SEOUL, Feb 4 ― South Korea's President Moon Jae-in pledged today to upgrade the country's alliance with the United States in a phone call with President Joe Biden, Seoul's presidential office said.

The call comes as Moon, who had offered to be a mediator between the United States and North Korea, faces the challenge of getting the stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang back on track.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and former US President Donald Trump agreed to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula at their first summit in 2018, but a second summit and subsequent working-level talks fell apart.

"We will always stand together as we work for peace on the Korean Peninsula and tackle global challenges,” Moon said in a statement after his 8am call with Biden.

Moon also welcomed what he described as "America's return” in the midst of mounting global challenges ― the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and economic polarisation.

South Korea's unification minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs called yesterday for the United States to flexibly enforce sanctions aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear programmes to revive denuclearisation talks. ― Reuters