Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks amid rising N.K. tensions

▲ Kim Gunn, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart, Hiroyuki Namazu, ahead of their talks at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Jan. 17, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

▲ Jung Pak, then U.S. deputy special representative for North Korea, speaks during a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., in this Sept. 12, 2023, file photo. Pak is now the new U.S. senior official for North Korea, responsible for leading America's North Korea policy. (Yonhap)

S Korea-US-Japan-nuclear envoys

Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks amid rising N.K. tensions

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan were set to hold talks in Seoul on Thursday as tensions are running high on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea's belligerent rhetoric and its deepening military cooperation with Russia.

The talks between Seoul's nuclear envoy Kim Gunn and his respective U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jung Pak and Hiroyuki Namazu, come just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un denounced South Korea as an "invariable enemy" and vowed to completely occupy the South in the event of war.

On Sunday, North Korea also test-fired what it claimed to be a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead, about a week after it fired hundreds of artillery shells near the western sea border.

The talks also come a day after North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid growing concerns over their deepening relationship.

The U.S. and its allies have accused the North of providing arms support to Moscow for use in its war in Ukraine in return for Russia's assistance in Pyongyang's advanced weapons development.

Following Choe's meeting with Putin on Wednesday, the Kremlin said that Russia was keen on developing relations further with North Korea in all areas, including "sensitive ones."

Seoul's foreign ministry said earlier that the three envoys will discuss North Korea's recent provocations and its military cooperation with Russia and joint efforts to respond.

Kim, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, will hold separate bilateral talks with Pak before the three-way meeting. Kim held one-on-one talks with Namazu on Wednesday.

In Wednesday's talks, Kim and Namazu condemned the North's "reckless" behavior and blamed the regime for escalating tensions, saying such actions will only strengthen the security cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.

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