And to tell us more about South Korea's recent efforts to step up cooperation with its neighboring
states to help pave the way for a possible summit between the U.S. and North Korea,...
Professor Kim Hyun-wook from the Korea National Diplomatic Academy joins us in the studio
today.
Thanks for coming in today.
Pleasure to be here.
1- So South Korea's special envoys headed to China and Japan on Monday to brief the
leaders of those countries on the outcome of their meeting in North Korea.
At this point, we want to know what kind of roadmap the South Korean government has in
mind when it comes to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
What's the big picture here involving our neighboring countries?
2- And
President Moon's top security advisor Chung Eui-yong headed over to China to meet Chinese
President Xi Jinping.
What's interesting is that China's "two sessions", which are the annual meetings of the national
legislature and the top political advisory body, are ongoing in Beijing right now and
we hear that it's quite unusual that Xi Jinping took the time to meet with Chung during this
period?
3- What kind of message do you think Mr. Chung handed over to the Chinese President?
4- Chinese President Xi said to Chung that Seoul and Beijing should boost their communication
and properly resolve sensitive issues.
So what are some of the things that China is likely to focus on when it comes to Seoul-Beijing
relations?
5- Meanwhile, the director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Suh hoon, visited
Japan to brief Tokyo on his visit to North Korea.
Suh met with Japanese Foreign Minister Kono Taro on Monday and they agreed to maintain
maximum pressure on North Korea.
Let's listen to what the Japanese foreign minister had to say.
"Japan and South Korea agreed that we will continue to apply maximum pressure on North
Korea until it results in concrete action."
6- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also expressed his support for talks with North
Korea,... but emphasized the need to make Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons.
Where does Japan stand at this point in regards to multilateral cooperation on denuclearization
efforts?
7- Now Kono also said that Japan would be willing to provide money for International
Atomic Energy Agency inspections if needed.
What can we make of this?
8- What about the abduction issue which Kono said that Japan and South Korea have agreed
to cooperate on.
What is Kono referring to, and what solutions could there be to resolve this issue?
9- And although it's unclear whether the national security adviser Chung Eui-yong will be able
to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin... due to
the upcoming Russian presidential election on Sunday...
what can we expect from Russia when it comes to dealing with North Korea?
10- So what strategies does
the South Korean government need to have in place in order to effectively draw in its
neighboring countries to work
toward
denuclearizing
the
Korean Peninsula?
Thank
you for your insight today.
My pleasure.