[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Steven Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea, who arrived in Korea on the 7th, will begin his official schedule starting with a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 8th, Deputy Secretary Biegun paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Dorim-dong, Seoul, around 9:15 a.m. Afterwards, he will hold the eighth Korea-U.S. Deputy Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue with First Vice Minister Cho Se-young. This visit is Biegun’s first to Korea this year since December last year, and it is his first face-to-face meeting with Vice Minister Cho since his promotion to Deputy Secretary.
At the meeting with Minister Kang, Deputy Secretary Biegun said, “The journey was complicated due to COVID-19, but thank you for cooperating on the details so that I could arrive here safely.” Minister Kang responded, “It has been a long time since we last met. You have come at a very important time.”
At the Deputy Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, issues concerning Korea-U.S. bilateral matters and regional and global cooperation measures are expected to be discussed. In particular, there will likely be an exchange of views on the Korea-U.S. Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations, which have been in a seven-month agreement gap this year, and participation in the Economic Prosperity Network (EPN), which the U.S. is actively promoting as an 'anti-China economic bloc.' The U.S. proposal to expand the Group of Seven (G7) may also be discussed.
Following the Deputy Ministers’ dialogue, Deputy Secretary Biegun is scheduled to meet Lee Do-hoon, Director-General for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for Korea-U.S. senior-level talks on North Korea. The two countries are expected to share assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss cooperation measures for complete denuclearization and the establishment of lasting peace. Director-General Lee visited the U.S. on the 17th of last month and held consultations with Deputy Secretary Biegun. Attention is focused on the North Korea message that Deputy Secretary Biegun will deliver immediately after the senior-level talks.
However, just before Deputy Secretary Biegun’s visit to the U.S., North Korea and the U.S. showed significant differences in positions, lowering the possibility of contact with North Korea that some had hoped for. North Korea recently made it clear through two statements that it has no intention of sitting down with the U.S. The U.S. State Department also emphasized strengthening coordination on North Korea’s final, fully verified denuclearization (FFVD). While North Korea demands effective alternatives for sanctions, the U.S. emphasized that the pre-denuclearization stance led by FFVD remains unchanged.
After completing his schedule at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the morning, Deputy Secretary Biegun is expected to have a private lunch and then meet with domestic political and government figures. In particular, he is likely to exchange views with the Blue House’s foreign and security officials. President Moon has recently appointed Seo Hoon as the new National Security Office Director, Park Jie-won as the Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Lee In-young as the Minister of Unification nominee.
Deputy Secretary Biegun is scheduled to complete his visit to Korea by the 9th and then proceed to Japan.
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