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Moon taps top national security adviser to lead delegation to North
By Choi He-sukPublished : March 4, 2018 - 11:06
President Moon Jae-in on Sunday named his special envoy to North Korea as speculations rise over his plans for facilitating US-North Korea talks.
On Sunday, Moon named National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong as his special envoy to North Korea. Chung is to lead a five-member delegation that leaves for Pyongyang on a two-day schedule Monday.
Along with Chung, Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service, Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung, senior National Intelligence Service Director Kim Sang-gyun, and Yun Kun-young, a Cheong Wa Dae official, are to visit the North as part of the delegation. The high-level officials are also to be accompanied by five working-level officials, Cheong Wa Dae said.
“The special envoy delegation will stay in Pyongyang for two days, and hold discussions on establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean relations with high-level North Korean officials,” said Yoon Young-chan, senior secretary for public relations. According to Yoon, the South Korean delegation is to leave for North Korean on a chartered flight that is to take the West Sea route into North Korea.
Yoon added that the special envoy’s planned visit to the North is a response to Kim Yo-jong’s visit to the South last month. Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, came to the South on Feb. 9 as part of a North Korean delegation to the PyeongChang Olympics. During a meeting with President Moon at Cheong Wa Dae, the younger Kim delivered a letter from her brother and conveyed an invitation to hold a summit meeting in North Korea.
At the time, Moon avoided giving a direct answer, saying that the two Koreas should work together to establish an environment that would allow an inter-Korean summit.
“The delegation will hold comprehensive discussions on issues such as establishing the environment for US-North Korea talks for denuclearization, increasing inter-Korean exchange and improving relations,” Yoon said.
Yoon added that members of the special delegation would visit the US after their return from the North to discuss the results of the visit. Yoon also said that Seoul would “consult closely” with China and Japan on related issues.
The choice of Chung as the special envoy is thought to have been prompted by his extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and close policy coordination with the US.
Since taking office in May, Chung has played a key role in shaping the Moon administration’s foreign policies and coordinating with the US.
As for Suh, he is known to have played a major role in arranging previous inter-Korean summits during the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations. He also spent a number of years in the North as the head of the field office of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization in the late 1990s.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
