SKorea Considers Envoy to NKorea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea said Thursday it is considering dispatching a special envoy to North Korea as part of its efforts to get stalled nuclear talks back on track.

Negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program have remained stalemated since a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last month ended without agreement.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who facilitated U.S.-North Korean talks last year, is to travel to Washington next week to discuss the nuclear diplomacy with Trump.

Moon's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, told lawmakers on Thursday that his government is also considering sending a special envoy to North Korea. He didn't elaborate.

In March 2018, Moon sent a delegation led by Chung to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. Chung's delegation met Kim and quoted him as saying he was willing to deal away his advancing nuclear arsenal.

Moon met Kim three times later in 2018. Kim's first summit with Trump in Singapore last May ended with a vaguely worded commitment to denuclearization that lacked any roadmap or timing.

Moon's government wants reconciliation with North Korea and a negotiated solution of the nuclear dispute.

(CZ)