South Korea and the United States have agreed to consider ending their "working group" on North Korea policy in what appears to be a conciliatory gesture to Pyongyang. 

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that top nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk and his U.S. counterpart Sung Kim reached the agreement during their talks in Seoul on Monday. 

The ministry said that during the talks, the two sides examined the operation of the existing working group and agreed to consider terminating it. 

It added that they agreed to strengthen their director-general level consultations in addition to dialogue between chief nuclear negotiators.

The working group was created in November 2018 to help Seoul and Washington coordinate on North Korea policies, including inter-Korean cooperation and international sanctions on the regime.  

But the joint group has been criticized for hindering inter-Korean relations as it called for strict standards and requirements for inter-Korean cooperation projects.