Unification minister says appointing special envoy to facilitate US-NK talks still under review

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young responds to an inquiry at a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate dialogue between the United States and North Korea was still known to be under review by President Lee Jae Myung.

Chung's remarks came after he had earlier proposed sending an envoy for "peace on the Korean Peninsula" to neighboring countries to help reopen U.S.-North Korea talks and stalled inter-Korean dialogue.

The move comes as South Korea has deemed the period leading up to U.S. President Donald Trump's planned trip to China next month for summit talks as critical to establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.

On the agenda for the summit talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chung said Washington was moving "under the table," without elaborating.