Amid stalled negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula... the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is meeting with South Korean officials today.... to talk about a range of issues related to North Korea.
Our Park Hee-jun starts us off. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held talks on Friday with South Korea's Unification Minister, Cho Myoung-gyon,... about North Korea's denuclearization and the ongoing inter-Korean cooperation projects.
"This is our fourth meeting in quite a short period of time. This shows that we're working to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and to put inter-Korean relations on the right track. I hope this sends a positive message to the North."
Ahead of the meeting, Biegun expressed hopes of ending the decades-long hostility on the Korean Peninsula... to create a brighter future for South and North.
But he also showed particular interest in the two Koreas' joint railway project.
"During our meeting, I'm excited to hear the results of the joint rail survey that was led by your ministry. We watched with great excitement as the trains lodged into North Korea."
One of the agendas for the meeting was the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for railway and road connections coming up on December 26th.
South Korea and the U.S. have been coordinating on how to deal with the ceremony possibly violating the sanctions on the North.
That and other inter-Korean cooperation projects are on the table today at the second meeting of the South Korea-U.S. working group on North Korea.
Biegun and his South Korean counterpart, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon,... are also likely to negotiate an 8-million dollar humanitarian aid project for Pyeongyang.
Later in the day, Biegun will meet National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong at the Blue House, where they will also discuss North Korea.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.
