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| U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, left, talks with South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha during their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul Friday, May 10. AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul
Visiting U.S. special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held talks with presidential National Security Office (NSO) deputy chief Kim Hyun-chong at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, on how to resume denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang through improving inter-Korean ties.
Before his arrival at the presidential office, Biegun met with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the minister's office for 25 minutes. Afterward he held a working-group meeting with foreign ministry official Lee Do-hoon to discuss details of Seoul's provision of food aid to the North, according to ministry officials.
Biegun didn't respond to reporters asking questions about North Korea's launch of two "projectiles" Thursday suspected of being short-range missiles. This came five days after similar launches of multiple missiles.
A scheduled joint press conference after the working group meeting was cancelled, and instead Biegun headed to the unification ministry to talk with Minister Kim Yeon-chul on the government's possible direct involvement in the food aid delivery and other details such as its volume and timing.
"Biegun visited Cheong Wa Dae, Friday afternoon. He had a very candid discussion with deputy chief Kim on an early resumption of the denuclearization talks and the need to maintain a low-key assessment toward the launches. The meeting also covered the possibility of another inter-Korean summit to break the impasse and avoid further backtracking despite the repeated provocative actions by the North," a presidential aide said.
At a special interview to mark the two-year anniversary of his presidency, Thursday evening, President Moon Jae-in downplayed the significance of the North's latest missile launches, saying the government viewed them as a "protest" after the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi ended in failure.
Trump reacted to the latest launches early Friday (KST) saying that he didn't think North Korea was "ready to negotiate."
"We're looking at it very seriously right now," Trump told reporters at the White House. "Nobody's happy about it." However, he said his personal relationship with Kim would continue.
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| South Korean protesters hold banners during a rally in front of the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, May 10, to denounce the policies of the United States on North Korea as they wait for the arrival of U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun. AP-Yonhap |
President Moon said South Korea and the United States were analyzing the launches to ascertain the type of weapons involved. He reiterated his hope for a fourth summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to bring the country back to negotiations.
"NSO deputy Kim told Biegun why another inter-Korean summit is needed in terms of keeping the nuclear dialogue alive. It's likely the closed-door meeting touched on a possible visit to South Korea by President Trump at the earliest possible date," the aide said. President Moon earlier raised the idea of another inter-Korean summit in his meeting with Trump at the White House last month.
President Moon has been maintaining a "low key stance" about North Korea's renewed provocative actions saying the launches hadn't broken the military agreement signed by the two Koreas which mandated them not to conduct any "hostile acts" against each other.
Another presidential aide told reporters the United States has yet to clarify its official position on the definition of the North's launches.
"Citing the U.S. Defense Department, foreign media reported the North launched missiles, however, our findings have shown that Washington has yet to announce its official position on the matter," the aide said, adding the government will proceed with food aid to the North as scheduled. President Moon said he will seek approval from the National Assembly to use inter-Korean cooperation fund to pay for the aid.
Biegun flew to Washington Saturday morning (May 11) after wrapping up his four-day visit.
