hankyoreh

Stephen Biegun

South Korea and the US are working on a plan for Stephen Biegun, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea, to visit the South on May 8-10, the Hankyoreh learned on May 1,

During a meeting of the South Korea-US working group on denuclearization and inter-Korean relations, Biegun and Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will reportedly be assessing affairs on the Korean Peninsula following the collapse of talks in the second North Korea-US summit in Hanoi and discussing ways to resume North Korea-US dialogue. “South Korea and the US are coordinating the schedule for Biegun’s visit to South Korea, and our two countries are planning to discuss a wide range of pressing issues related to our policy toward North Korea,” said a spokesperson for South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The last meeting of the South Korea-US working group was held in Washington about two months ago, on Mar. 14, and this will be Biegun’s first visit to South Korea since the second North Korea-US summit. The two sides might also discuss US$8 million in humanitarian aid that the South Korean government decided to provide North Korea via international organizations in September 2017.

the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea in front of UN headquarters in New York

In related news, the New Yorker reported that US White House Security Advisor John Bolton still believes in the possibility of launching a military attack on North Korea, quoting a source who knows Bolton. This reporting appeared in an article titled “John Bolton on the Warpath,” published on Apr. 29, in which the current affairs weekly analyzed Bolton’s hardline attitudes and convictions on North Korea, Iran and Syria.

A source described as being “familiar with [Bolton’s] thinking” said Bolton “wishes we weren’t at this point [of contemplating a military attack]. But the military option remains viable.”

But the New Yorker noted, “Even in the White House, there seems to be a growing realization that military force is not a realistic option.”

In an Apr. 30 Twitter message, Bolton wrote, “A recent article quoted an embittered former employee whom I haven’t seen or spoken to in several years.”

“His remarks are contrary to my views,” he added.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]