New US special representative for N. Korea to visit Seoul this week: State Department

WASHINGTON -- The new US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, will travel to Seoul later this week for trilateral talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, the State Department said Thursday.

During his trip from Saturday through Wednesday, Kim will join the three-way session with Noh Kyu-duk, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and Takehiro Funakoshi, Tokyo's director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs, it said.

"Special Representative Kim's travel to Seoul emphasizes the fundamental importance of US-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation in working toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, protecting our shared security and prosperity, upholding common values, and bolstering the rules-based order," the department said in a release.

ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

While in Seoul, Kim also plans to meet with other senior South Korean officials and members of academia and civil society to discuss the outcome of Washington's recently completed review of policy on North Korea.

Kim will be accompanied by Deputy Special Representative Jung Pak and a representative of the National Security Council, the department said.

After his first in-person summit with President Moon Jae-in in Washington on May 21, US President Joe Biden announced Kim's appointment as Washington's point man on Pyongyang, in a signal of the US readiness to resume dialogue with the North.

Kim currently doubles as ambassador to Indonesia. (Yonhap)