US envoy arrives in Seoul to address tensions with Pyongyang

Seoul, Aug 21 (EFE).- The United States special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, arrived in Seoul on Saturday to discuss with his South Korean and Russian counterparts about how to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table in the face of renewed tensions over military drills.

Kim, who also serves as the American ambassador to Indonesia, is on a four-day visit to South Korea after the North threatened a serious security crisis in response to the military exercises between Seoul and Washington that began on Monday.

“I think it is going to be a very productive visit,” Kim told reporters upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, according to Yonhap news agency.

On Monday, Kim is scheduled to meet with the South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, to discuss a way forward in the stalled denuclearization negotiations with the North Korean regime and the establishment of a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea and South Korea remain technically still at war since the Korean War 1950-53, which ended with an armistice but was never replaced by a peace treaty.

The US envoy is also scheduled to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, who was also scheduled arrive in Seoul on Saturday.

Morgulov, who will be in South Korea on a six-day visit, is scheduled to meet with Noh on Tuesday.

Seoul and Washington regularly conduct military drills, mainly during spring and summer, which Pyongyang has protested against for decades, calling it a rehearsal for invading its territory and which posed a threat to its sovereignty. EFE

asb-mra/sc