(LEAD) Pompeo to meet S. Korea's national security adviser this week: State Dept.

(ATTN: UPDATES with more information, additional background from 3rd para)
By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to meet with South Korea's national security adviser Suh Hoon this week, his department said Wednesday.

The meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday at the State Department, according to a daily schedule of Pompeo.

It was not immediately clear when the top South Korean security official arrived or will arrive in Washington, or what the purpose of his visit is.

His unannounced visit, however, comes after South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for international efforts to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly last month.

Moon believes the move would help resume the stalled negotiations over the denuclearization of North Korea.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun earlier called the initiative one of the "creative" ways to move forward.

South and North Korea technically remain at war as the 1950-53 war ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Pyongyang has been staying away from denuclearization talks since its leader Kim Jong-un's second bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, held in Hanoi in February 2019, ended without a deal.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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