Deputy nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S. hold talks on N.K. dialogue, peninsula security

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- The deputy nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held consultations in Seoul on Tuesday, officials said, amid joint efforts to resume stalled nuclear talks with North Korea.

Lee Moon-hee, director general at the foreign ministry's North Korean nuclear affairs bureau, met U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Alex Wong, foreign ministry officials said.

The meeting came a day after Wong held a "working group" session with Rhee Dong-yeol, director general at the ministry's Korean Peninsula peace regime bureau, to coordinate policy on Pyongyang.

Lee and Wong were expected to exchange views on the prospects for dialogue with the communist state and security on the peninsula, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned in his New Year's message of a "new strategic weapon" test and a "shocking actual action."

During the working group meeting on Monday, Wong and Rhee discussed Seoul's push for individual trips to the North as part of efforts to help the resumption of nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Later in the day, Wong is expected to meet officials from the unification ministry and the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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