By Kim Bo-eun
National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong met his U.S. counterpart John Bolton in Washington, Tuesday (local time), to discuss pending talks on North Korean denuclearization.
The two security chiefs also discussed a telephone call to be made between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump and a bilateral summit in Washington in May.
These will take place after Friday's inter-Korean summit and before Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which is expected in late May or June. Moon would share details of his meeting with Kim so preparations for the Pyongyang-Washington summit could be made accordingly.
“Chung and Bolton finished coordinating their views and sought close bilateral cooperation in preparing for the inter-Korean summit and achieving the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” chief presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters, Wednesday.
Chung is thought to have gone to Washington to speak with Bolton on recent developments concerning North Korea after Pyongyang said Saturday it would halt its nuclear and missile tests and shut down the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site.
Earlier, Cheong Wa Dae said Chung, as a South Korean envoy who met the North Korean leader in Pyongyang last month, could visit the capital again before the summit, but he flew to Washington instead. The presidential office said Chung's visit to Pyongyang had become unnecessary as there were no problems in summit preparations.
“For a successful Pyongyang-Washington summit, close negotiations must continue after the inter-Korean summit,” a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official said.
“Chung's visit reflects Moon's intentions that not only the inter-Korean summit but also the Pyongyang-Washington summit must be successfully held.”
Chung is expected to return to Seoul Thursday.