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Stephen Biegun, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea, arrives at Incheon International Airport on June 27. (Yonhap News)
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US special representative for N. Korea expected to discuss humanitarian aid
Stephen Biegun, who has led the US’ working-level talks with North Korea as State Department special representative for North Korea, arrived in South Korea on the afternoon of June 27 for a four-day visit. His arrival came two days ahead of US President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to visit just after the G20 Summit on June 28–29 in Osaka. On the morning of June 28, Biegun met with his South Korean dialogue counterpart Lee Do-hoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. As the two sides’ senior-level representatives on the North Korean nuclear issue, they are assumed to have coordinated a denuclearization-related agenda for their respective leaders to discuss at a South Korea-US summit on June 30. Meeting with reporters on June 27, a MOFA official said Biegun and Lee would be “holding in-depth discussions on bilateral coordination to achieve substantive progress with the Korean Peninsula peace process, including the resumption of North Korea-US dialogue.” On the afternoon of June 28, Biegun appeared likely to meet with Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul to share information about the current state of inter-Korean relations and South Korean government-level efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the North. Biegun will reportedly not be visiting to the Blue House, as National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong and Second Deputy Chief Kim Hyung-chong are both away accompanying President Moon Jae-in at the G20 Summit. Instead, Biegun was reportedly scheduled for a roundtable discussion that afternoon with groups involved in humanitarian aid to North Korea, including the Eugene Bell Foundation. A source reported that the discussion had apparently been scheduled at Biegun’s request. With the recent “correspondence diplomacy” between Kim and Trump raising hopes that North Korea-US talks will emerge from their deadlock since February, Biegun’s attention to the humanitarian aid issue is drawing notice. Launched in 1995 as an effort to provide food assistance to North Koreans, the Eugene Bell Foundation has been involved since 1997 in healthcare support activities to eradicate tuberculosis in North Korea. While most attention ahead of Biegun’s South Korea visit had focused on the possibility of him communicating with North Korea, no such activities are currently predicted. Multiple government officials said on June 27 that the likelihood of Biegun communicating with the North was “very low.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said at the 2019 Korean Peninsula Peace Symposium at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul’s Jung (Central) district on the afternoon of June 27 that US President Donald Trump was “reportedly planning to send some kind of message to North Korea at a place such as the DMZ.” By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
