Biegun to arrive in Seoul for talks on bilateral alliance, N. Korea
2020/12/08 11:24
Biegun-Seoul visit
(ATTN: ADDS more info on unification minister’s meeting in paras 8,9)
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun was set to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday for talks with South Korean officials on the bilateral alliance and the stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea.
His four-day trip comes amid concern that North Korea could stage provocations to test the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden that has yet to unveil its detailed policy on the communist state.
The trip is expected to be his last visit to Seoul as the No. 2 American diplomat and the U.S. envoy for North Korea under the Donald Trump administration that ends its four-year term early next year.
Biegun is scheduled to land aboard a chartered plane at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, at about 5 p.m., officials said.
Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, and Allison Hooker, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House’s National Security Council, will be among those accompanying him on the trip, according to diplomatic sources.
On Wednesday, Biegun will hold talks with First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun before meeting with Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator, Lee Do-hoon, to discuss the prolonged deadlock in the denuclearization talks with Pyongyang, the foreign ministry said.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha plans to host a banquet for him Friday.’
In the file photo taken Sept. 29, 2020, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun makes remarks to the press after holding talks with Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator, Lee Do-hoon, in Washington, D.C. (Yonhap)
Biegun is scheduled to hold a breakfast meeting with Unification Minister Lee In-young on Thursday, a ministry official told reporters Tuesday.
During his visit, Biegun is also expected to meet with other senior national security officials. He could also pay a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in.
He will also give a lecture at a local think tank, sources said.
Biegun’s discussions during the trip are expected to focus on ways to keep the situation on the Korean Peninsula stable. He is likely to send out a message urging Pyongyang to refrain from provocations and return to dialogue.
Denuclearization talks with North Korea have made little progress since the 2019 summit of Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi broke down without a deal.
Other issues he could discuss include the stalled negotiations on determining South Korea’s share of the costs to maintain some 28,500 American troops stationed here.
Biegun was appointed in August 2018 as the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea and promoted to deputy secretary in December last year. Despite the promotion, he has concurrently served as the lead interlocutor with the North.
Biegun will depart for home Saturday.
elly@yna.co.kr
Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency
