S. Korea's top diplomat begins US trip ahead of NK summits

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in Washington Thursday to meet with US officials over the two nations' planned summits with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late April, while US President Donald Trump has said he will meet with Kim before the end of May.

Both meetings are expected to focus on ways to rid the North of its nuclear weapons program.

"I think (South Korea and the US) will need to coordinate closely at various levels to achieve key diplomatic events going forward," Kang told reporters in Seoul ahead of her departure. "Our task is to produce both an inter-Korean summit and a US-North Korea summit."

After meeting with US senators on Capitol Hill, she said the two sides held "in-depth" discussions on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.
  US House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), left center, and South Korean FM Kang Kyung-hwa (right center). (Yonhap)
"(The senators) expressed both misgivings and hope over the recent momentum for dialogue created by the Olympics," the minister said.

The planned summits are the outcome of a series of inter-Korean meetings that began in January after Kim expressed an interest in sending a delegation to last month's Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Among the senators were Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Ed Markey (D-MA), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia.

On her meeting with Trump's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka, earlier in the day, Kang said they had a "very good conversation" over lunch. The two met in South Korea when Ivanka Trump led the US delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Games.

The minister later met with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other lawmakers, including Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

On Friday, she is set to meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who is serving as acting secretary in the wake of Rex Tillerson's dismissal earlier this week.

It was uncertain whether Kang would meet with secretary-designate Mike Pompeo, but officials said chances were low as the Central Intelligence Agency chief has yet to win Senate confirmation.

During her three-day stay, the minister also plans to speak by phone with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss trade issues, including the ongoing renegotiation of the Korea-US free trade agreement and Washington's recent announcement of tariffs on steel imports. (Yonhap)

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