Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan are moving to hold talks next month in Seoul to discuss cooperation in dealing with the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will meet with his US and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, in Seoul in mid-December, according to official sources.
This would mark the first trilateral meeting of the allies since June and also represent the first of its kind since Yun's inauguration in October. Exactly when they will meet is currently under negotiation, the sources said.
The nuclear negotiators are expected to discuss cooperation in dealing with the North's missile and nuclear threat as the UN Security Council is likely to adopt a fresh resolution this week on Pyongyang's fifth nuclear detonation test in September.
The new resolution is reportedly focusing on filling the "loopholes" in the previous sanctions that the North is accused of taking advantage of in getting its hands on money needed to pursue its nuclear ambitions.
The envoys are also likely to discuss the possibility of the reclusive regime carrying out additional provocations by the North amid political uncertainty in the US following Donald Trump's recent win in the presidential election, and leadership vacuum in South Korea caused by the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend, observers said. (Yonhap)
