South Korea's nuclear envoy is in Washington to meet his American counterpart amid rising tensions between North Korea and the U.S. following the regime's continued development of weapons and the discovery of undeclared missile bases.
The two allies are expected to hold talks aimed at keeping them on the same page when it comes to dealing with Pyeongyang.
A new bilateral consultative body between Seoul and Washington to discuss North Korea's denuclearization is expected to be inaugurated on Tuesday, local time, as nuclear negotiators
from both countries are scheduled to meet in the U.S.
Arriving in Washington on Monday, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, Lee Do-hoon said they will discuss all areas that require close bilateral cooperation.
Lee also said high-level talks between North Korea and the U.S. should take place soon,
explaining that the Trump administration wants to hold a second North Korea-U.S. summit in early January.
Joining Lee for his meeting with Stephen Biegun, the U.S. State Department official in charge of Korea affairs, are officials from Seoul's Unification Ministry and National Security Office.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Monday saying the two allies will discuss the continued diplomatic efforts on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, UN sanctions on the regime and inter-Korean cooperation.
In the meantime, the U.S. has sanctioned another individual for their dealings with North Korea,
this time a South African national for allegedly helping the regime buy oil.
The U.S. Treasury Department says Vladlen Amtchentsev, a Russian-born South African national,
advised an already sanctioned entity, Velmur Management, on how to evade U.S. sanctions to support purchases of oil for the North.
Velmur also assisted a company called Transatlantic Partners, which has been sanctioned for operating in North Korea's energy industry.
The Treasury Department added the two firms are also suspected of laundering millions of dollars in connection with North Korea.
A UN committee said it does not see Japan's reparations to the Korean women forced to serve as sex slaves during World War two enough.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances said in a report that it is "concerned at the lack of enough reparations to the victims and regrets the state party's position.
It also said that information including the exact number of victims is not enough and that more research needs to be done.
A Japanese official to the UN in Geneva said the report is highly regrettable and said that it only shows a one-sided picture of this issue.
Over 100 South Koreans who visited to North Korea's Mount Geumgangsan to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of the launch of South Korean tours there returned home on Monday.
Chairwoman of Hyundai Group Hyun Jeong-eunsays she expects the program to resume in the near future.
Hyundai Asan spearheaded major inter-Korean projects – both the tours to Mount Geumgangsan and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
However the mountain tours stopped after a South Korean tourist was shot dead in 2008.
But, over 100 South Koreans – including Hyundai officials, South Korea's lawmakers and former unification ministers -- visited the mountain from Sunday to Monday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the tour program.
Source: Arirang News
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