Nuke envoys of Korea, US and Japan likely to meet next month: source

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan will likely meet in Washington next month to discuss cooperation in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuke threats, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.

Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, is arranging a meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, according to the source. "The meeting is being arranged for the middle of February."  

The gathering, if held, would mark the first of its kind under the new Donald Trump administration. Their last trilateral meeting was held in Seoul on Dec. 13.

(Yonhap)

The three are expected to discuss cooperation in maintaining a unified front against the North and keeping the present pressure and sanction-oriented approach to its nuclear weapons program.

Concerns are growing that the North is pushing to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile as indicated by its leader Kim Jong-un in his New Year's address.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the South Korean special representative will likely hold bilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts to discuss issues of mutual concern, observers said. (Yonhap)