Kim Gun, Head of the Korean Peninsula Headquarters, Departs for Japan for ROK-US-Japan Senior Talks on North Korean Nuclear Issues

7th Tokyo, Japan: ROK-US-Japan Senior Representatives Meeting on North Korean Nuclear Issue Held
Discussion on Response to North Korean Provocations and President Yoon Suk-yeol's Bold Initiative

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Kim Geon, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Korea Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters, departed for Tokyo, Japan on the morning of the 6th to discuss North Korea's nuclear issue with the United States and Japan.

On the 7th in Tokyo, Director Kim plans to hold trilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear issue with Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to conduct in-depth discussions on North Korea's denuclearization.

He is scheduled to return on the 8th after holding bilateral talks with Sung Kim and Director Funakoshi on Korea-U.S. and Korea-Japan issues, respectively.

This will be the first face-to-face trilateral meeting of the senior representatives on North Korea's nuclear issue among Korea, the U.S., and Japan in about two months since their preliminary coordination meeting at the foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, Indonesia on July 8.

The talks are drawing attention as they are held amid concerns that North Korea may resume large-scale provocations. North Korea has completed preparations for its 7th nuclear test.

Accordingly, the trilateral representatives are expected to share assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the possibility of North Korean provocations, and discuss countermeasures such as UN and unilateral sanctions to be implemented in case of provocations.

In this regard, Kim Sung-han, Director of the National Security Office at the Presidential Office, stated to reporters after the Korea-U.S.-Japan security chiefs meeting held in Hawaii on the 1st (local time), "If North Korea conducts its 7th nuclear test, the response will definitely be different from previous ones."

Additionally, the Korea-U.S.-Japan representatives are also reported to discuss ways to promote the Bold Initiative, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's roadmap for negotiations with North Korea.

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