S Korean nuclear envoy en route to Washington to discuss issues pertaining to N Korea

Seoul: South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon on Tuesday (local time) departed for Washington to hold discussions pertaining to North Korea, including efforts being made towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

This comes shortly after the Hanoi Summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came to an abrupt end.

Lee, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, plans to meet with his American counterpart Stephen Biegun, and other US officials, reported Yonhap News Agency.

Speaking to reporters shortly before his departure, Lee said that discussions would be held on the Hanoi summit as well as consultations on resuming North Korea-US dialogue.

“In the process, (we) plan to analyze the outcome of the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, solidifying coordination between South Korea and the U.S., and consult on what to do going forward,” Yonhap news agency quoted Lee as saying.

Trump and Kim met in Hanoi on February 27 and 28 with hopes of signing a deal that sees Pyongyang stop missile testing and getting economic sanctions in return. However “no agreement was reached” as the summit was abruptly concluded, and a signing ceremony, as well as working lunch, was cancelled.

Despite this, the US President tweeted that he had “very substantive negotiations” with Kim after the culmination of his visit to Vietnam.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]