New Zealand remains committed to promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, amid uncertainties in stalled nuclear talks between North Korea and the United States, its top envoy in South Korea said Tuesday. Ambassador to Seoul Philip Turner also stressed his government’s backing for the ongoing diplomatic efforts to chart a peaceful path to settling Pyongyang’s decadeslong nuclear quandary. “New Zealand is firmly committed to a stable and peaceful solution on the peninsula and to achieving the CVID, and we strongly encourage all countries to continue their diplomatic efforts to that end,” he said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday. CVID stands for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

Regarding the no-deal summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, the ambassador said the unsuccessful outcome demonstrated that there’s a long way before the negotiations can yield any tangible results. “The outcome is a reminder of how complex and challenging the situation on the peninsula is. It’s a very complicated process and we need to be realistic about how long it will take to build a lasting peace on the peninsula,” he said.

The Hanoi summit ended without an agreement as the two sides failed to reach common ground on the scopes of the North’s denuclearization and sanctions relief by Washington. The ambassador stressed that, as a key contributor of the United Nations Command (UNC), his country has been dedicated to its duty in guarding the Pacific through working with other countries. “We also contribute in the Pacific to identify and de-register illegally flagged North Korean vessels, and we have deployed a P-3 aircraft to support the implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against DPRK.” DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.