1. Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Hwang Joon-kook will hold a series of bilateral consultations on North Korea and its nuclear issue with the head delegates of the US, Japan and Russia to the Six-Party Talks on October 27 and 28.

* US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kimihiro Ishikane of the Japanese Foreign Ministry and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Margulov, all of whom also serve as their countries’ head delegates to the Six-Party Talks, will visit the Republic of Korea to attend the second inter-governmental meeting on Northeast Asia peace and cooperation on October 28 and the 2015 Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative Forum from October 27 to 29.

2. The forthcoming series of bilateral consultations with the head delegates to the Six-Party Talks is expected to serve as an opportunity to discuss in depth ways to make progress on the North Korean nuclear issue by building on the momentum created through the ROK-China, US-China, and ROK-US summit talks that were held on September 2, September 25 and October 16, respectively.

◦ Special Representative Hwang and the head delegates of the US, Japan and Russia to the Six-Party Talks will share their assessments of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss ways to deter provocations from North Korea and to resume denuclearization talks, including exploratory dialogue.

◦ The meeting with US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim will be a follow-up measure to the recent ROK-US summit talks, where the two sides agreed to “commit to address the North Korean nuclear problem with utmost urgency and determination.”

◦ The meeting with Kimihiro Ishikane, Japan’s new head delegate to the Six-Party Talks, will mark the first meeting with Director-General Ishikane since his taking up the current post, where the two sides are expected to exchange greetings.

◦ The meeting with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Margulov will mark Special Representative Hwang’s first meeting with him in eight months since the Special Representative’s visit to Russia in February.

3. The ROK government, in order to achieve progress on the North Korean nuclear issue, will continue diplomatic efforts for deterrence, pressure and dialogue.


* unofficial translation