The top U.S. official in charge of negotiations with North Korea, who traveled to South Korea on Sunday for a last-ditch effort to restart talks before the end of the year, landed in Tokyo on Tuesday evening having failed to meet with his DPRK counterparts.

State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun in a press conference with his ROK counterpart Lee Do-hoon on Monday called for the North to respond to his request for talks.

Local media reported Tuesday that these calls ultimately went unanswered, though it has yet to be confirmed whether any sort of contact or