Anchor: This week's meeting of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly and the South Korea-U.S. summit in Washington are expected to offer a watershed in efforts to denuclearize Pyongyang, amid stalled dialogue following the collapse of the Hanoi summit. 
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The leaders of the two Koreas and the U.S. will have an opportunity to share their views on ways to resume dialogue in efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, following the breakdown of the U.S.-North Korea summit in late February.

On Thursday, North Korea will convene its Supreme People's Assembly, the first time its legislature will meet since more than 600 new deputies were elected in nationwide elections last month.

Although the North has kept mum on the denuclearization process since Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui threatened the regime could walk away from nuclear talks in mid-March, Pyongyang could announce its diplomatic policy direction during the Assembly.

At a meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament in 2013, North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to become a nuclear state, but in 2017, it revived a parliamentary foreign affairs committee to show its willingness to improve relations with the outside world.
 
Following last year's Assembly, the ruling party's central committee adopted a policy direction focused on economic development, rather than pushing for nuclear and economic advancement simultaneously. 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a media outlet on Friday that Washington will keep a close eye on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's message during his upcoming parliamentary address. 

Pyongyang may also wait for the outcome of the meeting between the leaders of South Korea and the U.S. in Washington on Thursday before announcing its policy direction. 

President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump are expected to coordinate their positions to revive denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

While Trump reportedly wants a package deal where Pyongyang dismantles more than its Yongbyon nuclear facility in exchange for sanctions relief, Moon could induce more flexibility from Washington by pushing a step-by-step approach.

Ahead of the first anniversary of the historic April 27th inter-Korean summit, it is possible that Seoul and Pyongyang could reopen high-level dialogue in order to put denuclearization talks back on track.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : KBS News]