Former U.S. nuclear negotiator, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister resume denuclearization...
美성 김 대사•北최선희 부상, 폼페이오 방북 앞두고 회동 America's top diplomat is expected to pay a visit to Pyongyang this week. Ahead of his trip, working-level officials from the two sides reportedly met at the inter-Korean border over the weekend. Lee Ji-won zooms in on what they may have discussed. It seems as though talks to work out the process of North Korea's denuclearization have kicked off. A senior U.S. State Department official on Sunday confirmed that U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and former nuclear negotiator, Sung Kim and North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met again on Sunday at the truce village of Panmunjom on the inter-Korean border. This comes 19 days after the Pyongyang-Washington summit was held last month and is the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since Singapore. While not much is known about the details, the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo reports that the two exchanged views on the current situation for about an hour. And with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expected to visit Pyongyang this week, Sunday's meeting is thought to have covered the agenda for Pompeo's visit, mainly, North Korea's denuclearization. Ambassador Kim and Choe were at the forefront of negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington in the lead up to the Singapore summit. The two held a series of pre-summit meetings in Panmunjom,... and continued their talks in Singapore, right up until the first meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. An expert on North Korea expects these follow-up talks to center around ways to carry out North Korea's denuclearization in a speedy manner. "The specific timeline and plan can be made once the U.S. has an understanding of the size of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. So to start off, the U.S. is likely to first require North Korea to submit a list of its nuclear programs, which will be followed by the verification of the list, possibly by forming an international consortium centered around the U.S." The expert said, once the two sides settle on the speed and the intensity of the denuclearization steps, Washington can then work on easing its economic sanctions on North Korea. He also added that the shutdown of the large missile engine test site in Tongchang-ri, and the repatriation of the remains of some 200 American soldiers are also expected to be discussed at Pompeo's upcoming visit to the North. Lee Ji-won, 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 ARIRANG FOOD & TRAVEL : / arirangfoodtravel ------------------------------------------------------------ [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
