South Korea, U.S., Japan security advisors meet as preparations for North Korea summits step up

한미일 안보수장, 17∼18일 미국서 회동 Our top story this lunchtime... It's been revealed that the top security advisors of South Korea, the United States and Japan, met over the weekend in San Francisco to discuss the upcoming talks with North Korea. It's the latest in number of meetings as officials scramble to get ready for the landmark talks. Kwon Jang-ho starts us off. The Blue House on Monday revealed that Chung Eui-yong, Seoul's national security advisor, had been back in the U.S. over the weekend. He had been part of a closed-door meeting with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, H.R. McMaster and Shotaro Yachi. Over two days, they were said to have discussed the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, as well as how to coordinate efforts in preparing for the landmark inter-Korean summit in April, and the U.S.-North Korea summit in May. The spokesperson said the three advisors also agreed to, quote, "not repeat their past failures." For Chung it was the first time he had returned to the U.S. since that meeting with Donald Trump earlier this month, where the U.S. President made the sudden decision to agree to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Since then there has been a flurry of trips for Chung and other South Korean officials to gear up for the talks. Chung visited China and Russia to brief them on the situation, while another special envoy visited Japan with a similar remit. And last week, Seoul's foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha met with her U.S. and Japanese counterparts in Washington. North Korea also seems to have begun its preparations, sending envoys to Sweden and Finland to make unofficial, indirect contact with Washington and Seoul. With only a few weeks to go before the potentially historic summits, all parties are scrambling to prepare, and more trips and meetings are expected ahead. Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News. Arirang News Facebook:   / arirangtvnews   ------------------------------------------------------------ [Subscribe Arirang Official YouTube] ARIRANG TV:    / arirang   ARIRANG RADIO:    / music180arirang   ARIRANG NEWS:    / arirangnews   ARIRANG K-POP:    / arirangworld   ARIRANG ISSUE:    / arirangtoday   ARIRANG CULTURE:    / arirangkorean   ------------------------------------------------------------ [Visit Arirang TV Official Pages] Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com ------------------------------------------------------------ [Arirang K-Pop] YouTube:    / arirangworld   Facebook:   / arirangkpop   Google+: http://plus.google.com/+arirangworld