In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, U.S President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam. AP-Yonhap

South Korea will consult closely with the United States as it seeks to bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's top envoy to Washington said Friday.

Ambassador Cho Yoon-je reaffirmed the countries' close ties in the wake of last week's second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which failed to produce an agreement on denuclearizing the North.

"Although the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi did not bring about the result we had hoped for, the U.S. and North Korea both expressed their commitment to continuing their talks," he said at an event marking the 100th anniversary of Korea's March 1 Independence Movement against Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula.

The ambassador compared the diplomatic effort to a moving train heading toward the goal of "a new Korean Peninsula of peace and cooperation" and acknowledged that there could be "peaks and valleys" ahead.

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"Throughout this process, the U.S. is and will remain our indispensable partner," he said. "We will continue to consult closely with the U.S., as well as cooperate with our neighbors and the wider international community."

Seoul has been eager to restart inter-Korean economic projects to incentivize the North's denuclearization, while Washington has insisted on keeping sanctions on the regime until it abandons its nuclear weapons program.

The difference has led to perceptions of a rift in the allies' relations. (Yonhap)