Envoy Diplomacy

[Anchor Lead]

South Korean special envoys are visiting neighboring nations to explain to them the outcomes of their trips to North Korea and the United States. The South Korean national security adviser met with the Chinese president and spoke to him until late into the night. Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service chief met with the Japanese prime minister on Tuesday.

[Pkg]

Shortly after his arrival in China, National Security chief Chung Eui-yong met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's foreign policymaker Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The South Korean envoy delivered President Moon Jae-in's invitation for the Chinese leader to make a state visit to Korea in the near future.

[Soundbite] Chung Eui-yong(Chief, National Security Office) : "President Moon Jae-in attributes the positive developments on the Korean Peninsula to the outstanding leadership of President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government."

President Xi said that Seoul's decision to dispatch Chung Eui-yong to brief him on the outcomes of the South Korean envoys' trips to North Korea and the U.S. signify how much Seoul values its relationship with Beijing. He added that the leaders of the two nations have been implementing their agreements well so far. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed the decision to hold talks between Seoul and Pyongyang as well as between Pyongyang and Washington, stressing that China has played a pivotal role so far. Wang Yi said that the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 2397 passed late last year pushed North Korea to its limit, and that it was Beijing that has been calling for shifting the pressure policy to dialogue while implementing U.N. sanctions as well. Upon wrapping up his visit to China, National Security adviser Chung Eui-yong is now on his way to Moscow, Russia. Meanwhile, in Japan, South Korea's National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon met with Foreign Minister Taro Kono to brief him on North Korea's denuclearization agenda. The Japanese foreign minister lauded changes in Pyongyang's stance as something close to a miracle of East Asia. On Tuesday, Suh Hoon met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to brief them on the results of his visits to North Korea and the U.S. and ask for their support for the upcoming summit talks between Seoul and Pyongyang, and Pyongyang and Washington.