Moon names special envoys to North Korea
Five delegates will use direct route for one-day visit
By Yi Whan-woo
Chung Eui-yong
Suh Hoon
President Moon Jae-in named National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong as a special envoy to North Korea, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Sunday.
It said the five-member delegation led by Chung on a visit to Pyongyang will be made up of National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Suh Hoon, Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, NIS deputy director Kim Sang-gyun, and senior Cheong Wa Dae official Yun Kun-young. They will travel to the North Korean capital, Wednesday.
The five previously visited Pyongyang together in March to arrange the first summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the truce village of Panmunjeom, April 27.
This time, they will cross the border in preparation for the third Moon-Kim summit scheduled later this month in Pyongyang. Moon did not send envoys for the May 26 second summit.
“The government considered the continuity in inter-Korean dialogue and effective achievement of the trip's objective in its decision to send the same officials,” presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told the press. Chung spearheaded the delegation in March.
The Seoul delegation will fly to Pyongyang, using a direct route across the Demilitarized Zone. They will return home the same day.
It has not been determined whether the delegation, who previously met the North Korean leader, will do so this time, according to the spokesman.
The Wednesday trip will take place as the U.S. insists that the inter-Korean relations must be in tandem with Pyongyang's denuclearization.
Citing lack of progress, U.S. President Donald Trump recently called off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip Pyongyang.
Some diplomatic sources speculate that Moon, through his third summit with Kim, will seek to help North Korea and the U.S. break their deadlock in denuclearization talks.
The leaders of the two Koreas hurriedly met for the second time in May after Trump was offended by North Korea's “tremendous anger and open hostility” in preparation for the first U.S.-North Korea summit.
Trump and Kim eventually met in Singapore, June 12.
Despite the Singapore summit, concerns over North Korea's nuclear program have not been eased.
The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report in August noting their “grave concern” about North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
During his Iran visit in August, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said his country would retain nuclear knowledge as a security measure even in the event of denuclearization.