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US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun shakes hands with South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on June 28.
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Working-level discussions between Pyongyang and Washington appear imminent
US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is visiting Europe on July 8–11 to discuss plans for achieving North Korea’s denuclearization, the State Department announced on July 6. With South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon also scheduled to meet with Biegun in Europe, preparations for working-level discussions between Pyongyang and Washington appear to be gathering momentum. In a July 6 press release, the State Department said Biegun “will travel to Brussels July 8-9 and Berlin July 10-11 for meetings with European officials and with Republic of Korea Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon to advance our shared efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.” The South Korean Foreign Ministry explained Lee would be “visiting Germany on July 9–12 for discussions related to Korean Peninsula issues with Ina Lepel, director-general for Asia and the Pacific for the German Federal Foreign Office, and will be meeting Special Representative Biegun – who will be visiting Berlin during the same period – to hold discussions as the South Korean and US senior representatives on the North Korean nuclear issue.” The ministry said Lee planned to “discuss the Korean Peninsula situation in the wake of the South Korea-North Korea-US and North Korea-US meetings at Panmunjom on [June] 30 with Germany, which is a non-permanent UN Security Council member and major member of the EU.” “With Special Representative Biegun, he plans to discuss ideas for cooperation to achieve substantive progress with the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace,” the ministry continued. The European visits by Biegun and Lee come in the wake of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s meeting in Panmunjom and agreement to resume working-level talks. They are being taken as a sign that bilateral working-level negotiations are imminent. Shortly after the Panmunjom summits, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters bilateral working-level talks with North Korea could resume around mid-July. Biegun and Lee appear likely to attempt prior coordination of the venue and agenda for the North Korea-US working-level talks. The two also met in Sweden in January shortly before the second North Korea-US summit; at the time, Biegun and North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui spent three days engaged in working-level negotiations. With Europe also being discussed as a setting for the upcoming North Korea-US working-level talks, observers are watching to see if their venue and schedule are decided during Biegun’s visit. Another focus of attention is the possibility of a surprise encounter with North Korea during Biegun’s Europe visit. While a target date in the third week of July is reportedly being pursued by the bilateral working-level talks, some observers are suggesting the possibility of a surprise appearance from the North cannot be ruled out completely. During the Panmunjom summit last month, North Korea reportedly provided the US with a list of members on its working-level negotiation team, with former Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Myong-gil as its representative. By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
