S. Korea consults with U.S. on presidential special envoys’ visit to DPRK

SEOUL, Sept. 4 — South Korea had consulted with the United States in advance on the presidential special envoys’ visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Noh Kyu-duk, a foreign ministry spokesman, told a press briefing that the two allies had sufficient consultations on the special envoys’ visit to Pyongyang in advance, saying Seoul and Washington had been closely cooperating on the DPRK issues.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special emissaries were scheduled to visit Pyongyang Wednesday on a one-day mission to set a date for the third summit between Moon and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
The two Koreas agreed to hold the third Moon-Kim summit in Pyongyang before the end of September. The envoys are expected to discuss dialogue agenda for the upcoming summit.
The five-member special delegation will be led by Chung Eui-yong, top national security adviser for Moon. Chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Suh Hoon will accompany Chung.
Chung and Suh visited Pyongyang in March as special envoys, meeting with top DPRK leader Kim during their two-day trip.
Following their Pyongyang visit in March, Chung and Suh flew to Washington to notify the United States of the outcome of their meeting with DPRK counterparts.
An unnamed foreign ministry official was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying there could be similar processes of explaining to major countries after the special envoys’ visit to Pyongyang as seen in their March travel.