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South Korea's presidential office has revealed the names of President Moon Jae-in's special envoys who will travel to North Korea for a two-day visit at 2 P.M. Korea time.
Our chief Blue House correspondent Moon Connyoung starts us off. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is sending his top national security adviser and chief intelligence officer as special envoys to Pyongyang on Monday in a bid to persuade North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to come to the dialogue table with Washington.
It's only the latest chapter in an Olympics-driven detente between the two Koreas and part of Mr. Moon's efforts to carry the momentum forward to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula.
"The special delegation will take a direct chartered flight to Pyongyang Monday afternoon for a two-day visit during which they will hold talks with high-level North Korean officials to discuss ways to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and develop relations between the two Koreas."
The Blue House says the nature of the South's special delegation is to reciprocate the North Korean leader's decision to send a senior Olympics delegation... including his sister, Kim Yo-jong, who delivered Kim's invitation for an inter-Korean summit.
"Seoul's special delegation will comprehensively discuss various issues especially, on ways to set the 'right conditions' for U.S., North Korea talks aimed at denuclearization and improve inter-Korean relations."
A reasonable assumption at this point is that Seoul's special envoy will also carry a written message from South Korean President Moon to the North's Kim... and the extensive discussions will include the possibility of a crossborder summit between the two leaders.
The ten-member group traveling to Pyongyang comprises key officials in the South Korean government in charge of North Korean affairs.
Among them - Vice Unification Minister, Chun Hae-sung, who's been at the forefront of the latest inter-Korean contact since January this year.
The chief of the National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon... has been involved in the coordination of the two previous inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 and the NSC chief Chung Eui-yong who will be leading as Mr. Moon's special envoy oversees inter-Korean relations, diplomacy and national defense... acting as the primary contact between the Moon government and the Trump administration.
A senior Blue House official said one of the special envoys' key missions will be finding out the North Korean leader's views on various issues and accurately relaying the message to the South Korean president.
After the two-day visit to North Korea, the special envoys will travel to the United States to brief officials on their discussions in Pyongyang.
Moon Connyoung, Arirang News, the Blue House.
