Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks this week

▲ Trilateral talks on N. Korea's nuclear weapons Kim Gunn (R), South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, poses for a photo with Sung Kim (L), U.S. special envoy for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, during their talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons in the Japanese town of Karuizawa, Nagano, on July 20, 2023, in this file photo provided by Seoul's foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Symposium on N.K. exploitation of cryptocurrency exchanges In this file photo, Jung Pak, U.S. deputy special representative for North Korea, speaks during a South Korea-U.S. symposium at a Seoul hotel on Nov. 17, 2022, on how to respond to North Korea's alleged cyber exploitation of cryptocurrency exchanges. (Yonhap)

S Korea-US-Japan-nuke envoys

Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks this week

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold talks in Seoul this week on North Korea's latest military provocations amid its growing ties with Russia, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jung Pak and Hiroyuki Namazu, respectively, for three-way talks Thursday.

Kim will also hold separate bilateral talks with Pak earlier that day and with Namazu on Wednesday.

The three "plan to share their assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea's recent provocations and escalating tensions, its military cooperation and exchanges with Russia, and discuss measures to respond," ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a press briefing.

The planned talks come as North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was set to hold talks with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on Tuesday. Kremlin said it intends to further develop its partnership with Pyongyang "in all areas."

Choe's visit came amid concerns the North has been providing weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine in return for Moscow's technical assistance in advanced arms development.

On Sunday, the North test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, in its first ballistic missile launch this year, after the firings of artillery shells near the western sea border on Jan. 5 and 7.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called in a key parliamentary meeting Monday for stipulating in its constitution that South Korea is an "invariable principal enemy," warning he will not avoid war if he has to.

The upcoming talks among the nuclear envoys will also mark the first of its kind since Pak, previously the deputy U.S. nuclear envoy, took over the post from Sung Kim, with the new title of "senior official for the DPRK." The DPRK is the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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