South Korea and the United States held working-level talks in Washington last week about the North Korean nuclear standoff and inter-Korean issues, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Rhee Dong-yeol, director-general of the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau at the ministry, had broad discussions over the matters with his US counterparts last Thursday, according to the ministry.

His visit follows the latest meeting between top nuclear envoys of the two allies, Lee Do-hoon and Stephen Biegun, that took place in Seoul the previous week.

The ministry said the working-level talks between Seoul and Washington have continued on various levels and occasions despite the standstill in the denuclearization negotiations between the US and North Korea.

Talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear and weapons programs remain stalled after the second summit of US President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un ended without an agreement. They failed to reach common ground on the scope of the North's denuclearization and sanctions relief by Washington.

The two leaders agreed to resume the working-level talks at their June 30 meeting at the inter-Korean border. But the talks have yet to take place. (Yonhap)