S Korean diplomat to visit US next week for denuclearisation talks

Lee Do-hoon, the special representative for peace and security affairs of Korean Peninsula, is scheduled to embark on a three-day visit to the United States on November 19.

According to South Korean foreign ministry, Lee will meet his American counterpart Stephen Biegun. The two diplomats are expected to discuss bolstering cooperation on North Korea's denuclearisation exercise and a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, apart from deliberating on the current inter-Korean relations, Yonhap News Agency reported.

A proposal to establish a working group between the US and South Korea for "regular and systemic" communication on denuclearisation, sanctions and inter-Korean exchanges is also on the agenda.

The proposed talks between Lee and Biegun would mark their second meeting in less than three weeks. It would also be the first deliberations between them after North Korea and the US scrapped proposed high-level talks in New York last week.

Moreover, the upcoming talks between the two special envoys comes after a research group of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US-based think tank, discovered 13 out of an estimated 20 missile operating bases undeclared by the North Korean government earlier this week, raising eyebrows over the communist nation's commitment of achieving denuclearisation.

Amidst stalled talks between the US and North Korea over the issue, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently inspected the successful test of a new unspecified "high-tech tactical" weapon.