A “peace regime” between the U.S. and DPRK must be addressed in the two countries’ ongoing negotiations, the State Department’s second-ranked North Korea negotiator said in a speech in Washington on Tuesday.

The official, Alex Wong, who serves as both the department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for North Korea and Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, described the concept of a peace regime as daunting and amorphous — but said that it must happen in order for the North to prosper.

“The concept of a peace regime is powerful, because it’s also, at heart, an aspiration,” Wong said. “It stands for the