US envoy arrives in South Korea to discuss US-North Korea summit
The US special envoy for North Korea will arrive in South Korea on February 3 to conduct preparatory talks for the second US-North Korea summit later this month, sources said.
US Special Envoy Stephen Biegun will make a three-day visit to Seoul for talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol, a former North Korean ambassador to Spain, including discussing agenda items for a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-in.
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| US Special Envoy Stephen Biegun is said to have arrived in Seoul to discuss preparations for the second US-North Korea summit. Illustration photo by Yonhap |
The two sides are expected to meet at the border village of Panmunjom on Monday morning. Before the talks, Mr. Biegun plans to meet Mr. Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's top nuclear envoy, to coordinate their positions on North Korea's denuclearization.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that the time and location for his summit with Mr. Kim would be announced this week. However, so far, Mr. Trump has only confirmed that the meeting will take place at the end of February, while the location has not been announced by the US side, while there is still much speculation that Vietnam will be the location for the second summit.
Nuclear envoys from Washington and Pyongyang are expected to discuss in detail the denuclearization steps that North Korea should take and corresponding measures from the United States.
During US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang last October, the North Korean leader promised that the country would dismantle and destroy all of its plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities in exchange for corresponding measures from the US.
In a speech at Stanford University last week, Mr. Biegun said a full declaration by North Korea of its nuclear and missile programs would be required to be recognized as a fully denuclearized state.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim had their first meeting in history.in Singapore last June and agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for Pyongyang.
However, denuclearization talks have become deadlocked with North Korea calling for sanctions relief and corresponding US measures for denuclearization steps, while the US insists on sanctions relief only if North Korea carries out complete denuclearization, including the dismantling of a nuclear test site.