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By Kim Bo-eun
National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong sat down with his new U.S. counterpart John Bolton in Washington D.C., Thursday (local time), to map out a picture of the denuclearization of North Korea ahead of scheduled summits that will address this issue.
In Chung's first meeting with Bolton, who was named national security adviser April 9, the two are expected to open a communication channel as their countries prepare for the summits with North Korea. An inter-Korean summit will be held April 27 and a Pyongyang-Washington summit in May or June.
Chung arrived Wednesday for the scheduled meeting with Bolton, but this was postponed until the following day, due to Washington dealing with the situation surrounding Syria.
His visit comes a month after he and other South Korean envoys visited President Donald Trump to deliver North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation for a summit, after their meeting with Kim in Pyongyang.
Kim said in the meeting with the envoys that his regime was willing to give up its nuclear program if its security was guaranteed.
Chung and Bolton are likely to attempt to narrow their differences in the views they hold about how to achieve the denuclearization of the North.
Bolton, referred to as a super-hawk in foreign policy, is known for his hard-line stance against Pyongyang. He has advocated military options against the regime.
His views are in contrast with his predecessor Herbert McMaster, who supported dialogue.
Washington has maintained the need for Pyongyang's instant and complete abandonment of its nuclear programs, but Seoul seeks to first reach a deal on complete denuclearization and carry it out step by step.
Bolton earlier referred to the Libyan case as a model for North Korea. Libya shipped its nuclear weapons equipment to the U.S., in return for the normalization of relations with the U.S. and the easing of economic sanctions.
However, Cheong Wa Dae noted that this model is not applicable to Pyongyang, and that the process of dismantlement can only be done in phases.
This is also in line with the statement of "phased measures" by Kim in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month.
Meanwhile, Japan's National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi arrived in Washington the same day as Chung. Yachi's visit is to fine tune details of Trump's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week.
The visit by the Japanese security chief is also seen as an attempt bolster ties with the U.S. to prevent Japan from being sidelined in denuclearization discussions.
It has not been confirmed whether the three will hold talks.
The security chiefs of the three states met in San Francisco last month. At the time, McMaster was the national security adviser.
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