AFP, Seoul :
South Korean President Moon Jae-In will visit China next week for talks on North Korea and other issues, his office said Wednesday, amid tentative signs of diplomatic movement after months of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats.
The announcement came as a high-level United Nations representative held talks with a senior North Korean official during a rare trip to Pyongyang.
Jeffrey Feltman, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, arrived Tuesday to discuss “issues of mutual interest and concern”.
It was not immediately clear what was discussed between Feltman and the North’s vice foreign minister Pak Myong-Kuk.
Feltman’s trip-the first by a UN diplomat of his rank since 2010 — comes less than a week after North Korea test-fired a new ballistic missile said to be capable of reaching the United States.
Discussing ways to “peacefully resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue” will be on Moon’s agenda when he meets President Xi Jinping next week, Moon’s office said.
China has proposed that the North suspend missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a suspension of US-South Korean military exercises, a suggestion Washington has repeatedly rejected.
A US B-1B bomber flew over the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, Seoul’s defence ministry said, as part of a major joint air exercise slammed by the North as an “all-out provocation” that could trigger a nuclear war.
The five-day Vigilant Ace drill-involving some 230 aircraft including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters-began Monday, five days after the North’s ICBM test.
South Korean President Moon Jae-In will visit China next week for talks on North Korea and other issues, his office said Wednesday, amid tentative signs of diplomatic movement after months of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats.
The announcement came as a high-level United Nations representative held talks with a senior North Korean official during a rare trip to Pyongyang.
Jeffrey Feltman, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, arrived Tuesday to discuss “issues of mutual interest and concern”.
It was not immediately clear what was discussed between Feltman and the North’s vice foreign minister Pak Myong-Kuk.
Feltman’s trip-the first by a UN diplomat of his rank since 2010 — comes less than a week after North Korea test-fired a new ballistic missile said to be capable of reaching the United States.
Discussing ways to “peacefully resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue” will be on Moon’s agenda when he meets President Xi Jinping next week, Moon’s office said.
China has proposed that the North suspend missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a suspension of US-South Korean military exercises, a suggestion Washington has repeatedly rejected.
A US B-1B bomber flew over the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, Seoul’s defence ministry said, as part of a major joint air exercise slammed by the North as an “all-out provocation” that could trigger a nuclear war.
The five-day Vigilant Ace drill-involving some 230 aircraft including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters-began Monday, five days after the North’s ICBM test.
