US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will head to South Korea next week to coordinate efforts to bring about the full denuclearization of the communist nation, the US State Department said in a statement.
The trip comes amid what experts perceive as a prolonged battle of nerves between Washington and Pyongyang over the timeline on talks related to the North’s denuclearization.
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(Yonhap) |
Biegun will travel to Seoul from Monday and Tuesday to meet with his South Korean counterparts on “diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as committed to by Chairman Kim (Jong-un) in Singapore,” the department said in a statement.
Biegun’s trip comes weeks after he and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang earlier this month. There, the two sides drew up an agreement to start working-level talks to proceed with denuclearization negotiations as well as discussions for a potential second summit between their leaders.
Though working level talks are believed to involve Biegun and Choe Son-hui, vice foreign minister of North Korea, the details of the talks such the date and location are yet to be announced.
Despite speculation Biegun may be coming to Seoul to meet with Choe, fueled by Pompeo’s vague remarks on Oct. 19, for a high-level meeting with the North that could take place “in the next week and a half or so,” experts noted that such a notion may be premature. A series of working-level meetings would need to take place first to pave the way for high-level talks, experts said.
“With working-level talks between Washington and North Korea yet to take shape, the US may be seeking to find out North Korea’s intentions through South Korea,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul.
On Wednesday, a Seoul government official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the North had not given a specific response to the US on its request for a meeting, raising the possibility that Biegun’s visit may be aimed at resolving related issues.
Biegun’s visit also comes on the heels of a trip by his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, to Washington earlier this week, prompting concerns the two sides may be experiencing difficulties in coordinating certain details in their position on denuclearization.
North Korea has demanded the US agree to declare an end to the Korean War and ease sanctions against it, while the US wants the North to take more concrete denuclearization steps -- such as presenting an inventory of the North’s nuclear material and facilities -- amid growing skepticism in Washington concerning the North’s commitment to denuclearization.
Biegun was appointed in August to lead negotiations on the implementation of an agreement reached by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim at June’s Singapore summit.
Kim committed to work toward the “complete” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the US.
By Jung Min-kyung (
mkjung@heraldcorp.com)
