Diplomatic authorities of South Korea and the United States have reportedly shared the understanding that they will respond with specific action plans if North Korea accepts their call for talks. 

Such an agreement was known to have been made during recent discussions between Seoul’s nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk and his U.S. counterpart Sung Kim, as well as between their deputies, Lee Moon-hee and Jung Pak.  

Under the reported consensus, the two sides will come up with specific plans as to how to respond in case Pyongyang returns to the negotiation table. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Kim offered to meet with the North "anywhere, anytime, without preconditions” during his talks with Noh and their Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi in Seoul early this week. 

Regarding a statement by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon on Wednesday that Pyongyang is not considering contact with the U.S., Seoul and Washington were also said to be sharing their analyses and assessments of the top North Korean diplomat’s remarks.