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Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea Stephen E. Biegun. (Hwang Joon-bum)

Shortly before a senior American diplomat’s visit to South Korea on July 7-9, the US State Department repeated its call for North Korea’s “final and fully verified denuclearization.” The US’ reconfirmation of its longstanding demand for the North’s complete denuclearization came as attention focused on what message Stephen Biegun would bring the North during his time in Seoul.

“Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea Stephen E. Biegun will travel to Seoul and Tokyo July 7-10, to meet with officials in the Republic of Korea and Japan to continue close allied cooperation on a range of bilateral and global issues and further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK [North Korea],” the office of the spokesperson of the US State Department said in a statement released on July 6.

Following his three-day trip to South Korea, Biegun is planning to continue on to Japan. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young, and Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with Biegun to deliberate how the two countries can work together to achieve meaningful progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing peace there.

It has not been disclosed exactly how Biegun plans to resume North Korea-US dialogue or promote inter-Korean economic cooperation during his time in South Korea. But there has been noticeable tension between North Korea and the US leading up to Biegun’s visit. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui responded coolly to the idea of dialogue with the US by stating that the North does not “need to sit face to face with the US,” and the US reiterated its goal of the North’s “final and fully verified denuclearization.” Diplomatic sources say there seems to be little chance of a North Korea-US meeting taking place during Biegun’s visit to South Korea.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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