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| Joseph Yun |
Yun also plans to meet with security advisers for the leading contender and former DPK leader Moon Jae-in, and may possibly meet with Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a possible candidate from the People's Party, Wednesday.
Sources said Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, contacted their campaign offices first to request meetings with the liberal contenders. He did not schedule any meetings with conservative hopefuls.
This suggests that the U.S. government may believe that a liberal candidate will win the presidential election in May.
Yun arrived in Seoul, Monday, after visiting China. He is scheduled to meet Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Wednesday and return home, Thursday.
"Yun's offer for meetings with liberal contenders is seen as part of U.S. efforts to understand the views of a potential South Korean president on the North and how the two allies can tune-up and coordinate related polices accordingly," a source said.
On Tuesday, Yun and Governor An met behind closed doors and were joined by Marc Knapper, deputy chief of mission and acting ambassador at the U.S. Embassy.
Today, Yun will meet Moon's foreign policy advisors.
"Moon's side cited protocol and suggested that it will be appropriate for Yun to meet Moon's foreign policy advisers instead of meeting Moon directly," a DPK official said.
During a meeting between Yun and An, the latter stressed Seoul's commitment to the alliance between the two countries and a need for regional cooperation to resolve North Korea's nuclear threats.
An also brought up issues related to deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, such as China's economic retaliation against Seoul and growing security concerns here.
While the DPK has been against THAAD deployment, An has been insisting on the need to respect the allies' decision to deploy THAAD, although he admitted that he once opposed such a decision.
On Wednesday, two of Moon's diplomatic and security advisors _ former South Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Cho Byung-jae and former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Suh Hoon _ are expected to meet Yun.
They are likely to discuss security issues on the Korean Peninsula and the course of international policies on North Korea in the future.
The second-largest opposition People's Party said it has not received a request from Yun yet concerning a possible meeting with its presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo.
The party said Ahn can certainly meet Yun if Ahn has time.
