남북정상회담 나흘 앞두고 한미•한일, 잇달아 고위급 협의

South Korea's diplomats met with senior officials from the U.S. and Japan.
Part of all-out efforts to best prepared for the historic events to come.
Lee Ji-won shares with us what was discussed.

The acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Susan Thornton, met on Monday with Seoul's Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, Yoon Soon-gu.
After a quick greeting from Minister Kang,... Thornton had a long chat with Yoon about preparations for the inter-Korean summit.

"I thought it was very important and good timing for me to come and show our close coordination on all of the South-North preparations. We're looking forward to seeing how things go this week and to learning from what happens in your meeting and to hearing how it goes and to following that up on our own meeting."

The two discussed how their countries can work together to successfully hold the upcoming summits, denuclearize North Korea and stabilize the Korean Peninsula.
They also reportedly shared their views on the announcement last Saturday by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the regime will shut down its nuclear test sites, cease conducting nuclear and missile tests, and instead shift its focus to its economy.
Upon her arrival on Sunday, Thornton said that she sees this announcement as "very positive."
She and Yoon also reportedly discussed pending issues related to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, including defense cost sharing.
Thornton is slated to meet Seoul's top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, on Tuesday.

Lee, meanwhile, as South Korea's representative to the Six-Party Talks, met Monday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi.
They shared the latest developments related to North Korea's denuclearization -- Kanasugi discussing the U.S.-Japan summit last week, and Lee... the preparations for the inter-Korean summit. This comes as the foreign ministers of both sides had promised earlier this month to actively communicate and share related information.

With the rapid developments on the Korean Peninsula and big decisions coming out of the North, the three countries are expected to continue their close cooperation to keep up the momentum for peace.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.