Michael DeSombre, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, is scheduled to visit South Korea on Wednesday for talks on a range of alliance issues, officials said.
According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and diplomatic sources, DeSombre will stay in the country through March 15, with his official schedule beginning Thursday.
During the visit, he is expected to meet with senior South Korean officials, including Jeong Yeon-doo, Seoul’s chief representative for North Korean nuclear issues and head of the Foreign Ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Strategy and Intelligence; Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hye; and Park Jong-han, coordinator for economic diplomacy.
DeSombre, the top working-level official responsible for designing and coordinating US strategy and diplomacy in East Asia and the Pacific at the State Department, is visiting South Korea as part of a regional tour that runs from March 9 to 17 and also includes Japan and Mongolia.
In talks with Jeong, the two sides are expected to exchange assessments of the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss ways to bring North Korea back to dialogue.
Security concerns are also likely to be discussed following remarks by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who criticized the annual South Korea–US joint military exercise Freedom Shield on Monday and hinted at possible military provocations.
The two sides are also expected to exchange views on the situation in the Middle East and share related intelligence assessments.
Officials may also discuss the importance of swiftly implementing a joint fact sheet outlining agreements reached by the leaders of South Korea and the US.
cheesuk@heraldcorp.com
