[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un through his envoy who will make a cross-border trip this week to make preparations for a fresh summit amid concerns that a stalemate in denuclearization talks could disrupt inter-Korean rapprochement.
Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, will lead a five-member delegation to Pyongyang on Wednesday. The delegation includes National Intelligence Service (NIS) head Suh Hoon and Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung.
The special envoy said Tuesday that his trip would focus on fixing the date and agenda for the third inter-Korean summit to be held in Pyongyang sometime in September.
"We will discuss ways to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization," he said, adding peace on the Korean peninsula would go together with denuclearization.
In April, the two Koreas agreed to work on ending the status of war, stop all hostile acts against each other and replace a fragile armistice signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War with a lasting peace regime. Two months later, U.S. and North Korean leaders agreed to forge a lasting peace regime in return for Pyongyang's complete denuclearization.
However, there has been slow progress in denuclearization, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to cancel a scheduled North Korea visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Washington wants quick and tangible steps to achieve denuclearization while Pyongyang insists on a gradual and synchronous approach.
Signing a peace treaty has been a key subject at inter-Korean talks because North Korea wants a non-aggression accord with the U.S. to ensure the security of its regime. Some 28,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in South Korea under a mutual pact.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
