Nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan share updates on N. Korea

South Korea's top envoy on North Korean nuclear issues has talked to his American and Japanese counterparts to share the latest news about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said Thursday. 

Lee Do-hoon, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held a telephone communication with Joseph Yun, the U.S.

Special Representative for North Korea Policy, on Tuesday and had a further telephone call with Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The phone calls were made to share assessments of the situation of the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's New Year address and to discuss future action plans, the ministry said. 

"The South Korean government is having close communications with the U.S., Japan and other concerned countries over North Korean nuclear issues and the latest telephone calls between the top six-party negotiators were also conducted in that regard," the ministry said. 

The conversations came amid growing signs of a possible thaw in inter-Korean relations. South and North Korea reopened their long-severed communication line at the border on Wednesday after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he will talk to South Korea over the country's participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap)