ROK, Russia to discuss Korean Peninsula denuclearization

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The top nuclear envoy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) will visit Russia and Belgium, where the European Union (EU) is headquartered, next week to discuss the situations on the Korean Peninsula with his counterparts, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

The ministry said in a statement Thursday that Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit St. Petersburg, Russia on March 19 to hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov.

During the meeting, they will exchange opinions about the state of the peninsula since the second summit between top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, and discuss ways to cooperate for the complete denuclearization of and lasting peace on the peninsula.

ROK's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon (L)shakes hands with his U.S. counterpart Stephen Biegun in Seoul, ROK, February 9, 2019. /VCG Photo

The second Kim-Trump summit ended without an agreement in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in late February.

Lee will later head to Brussels, Belgium for his two-day visit from March 20 to the EU headquarters, where he will attend a session of the EU's Political and Security Committee and meet with Helga Schmid, secretary general of the European External Action Service.

During the visit, the ROK diplomat will make a discussion with his EU counterpart on cooperative ways for the peninsula's complete denuclearization while sharing assessments on the peninsula situations, the Seoul ministry said.

Lee held talks in Washington last week with Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for the DPRK.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R1) listens as U.S. President Donald Trump (L1) speaks during the extended bilateral meeting during their summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Series of talks after Trump-Kim summit

Lee's trips to Europe are part of an array of talks between relevant sides in the aftermath of the second Trump-Kim summit. On Friday, Lee will meet with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi in Seoul on issues about the DPRK, Yonhap reported.

Meanwhile, the ROK and the United States are scheduled to hold a working-group meeting in Washington on Thursday. Seoul plans to take the meeting into consideration when determining whether to allow business people to visit the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK, which was closed in 2016 amid nuclear and missile tensions, according to an official from Seoul's unification ministry.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex is seen in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, ROK, April 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

U.S. Special Representative for the DPRK Stephen Biegun will discuss last month's summit with United Nations Security Council members in New York on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

He will also discuss "efforts to ensure full implementation" of U.N. Security Council sanctions on the North (DPRK) until the country's "final, fully verified denuclearization," it said.

On the other hand, the Security Council has granted sanction exemptions to allow five proposed humanitarian projects in the DPRK to move forward, including providing nutritional and medical supplies, according to the UN website.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

(Cover: DPRK's students read the Rodong Sinmun newspaper coverage of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un visiting Vietnam for a summit in Hanoi with U.S. President Donald Trump, on Kim Il Sung square, Pyongyang, February 28, 2019. /VCG Photo)