South Korean envoy to visit North for talks

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president will send a special delegation to North Korea next week for talks on a nuclear standoff and to set up a summit planned for next month, his office said Friday.

The planned trip on Wednesday comes amid growing worry over the slow pace of getting North Korea to end its nuclear program following President Donald Trump’s Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June.

Trump declared that summit a success and suggested the nuclear issue would be solved, but there has since been widespread doubt over Kim’s willingness to relinquish his nukes. Many analysts believe that Kim sees them as crucial for staying in power.

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are set to meet next month in Pyongyang for their third summit. Details for the summit, including exactly when it will happen, haven’t been disclosed.

South Korea on Friday sent a message to Pyongyang proposing it send a special envoy and North Korea agreed, Moon’s office said in a statement.

“The special envoys will have extensive discussions with their North Korean counterparts, covering a concrete schedule for the upcoming inter-korean summit and the development of inter-korean relations as well as denuclearization and the settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the statement said.

Moon’s office said it hasn’t decided who it will send to North Korea or how long its delegation will stay there.

The announcement comes days after Trump shelved a trip by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang, citing lack of progress on denuclearization, but remaining open to future talks. North Korea hasn’t responded to Trump’s move.

Trump has been heaping blame on China, North Korea’s traditional ally and main trading partner. On Wednesday, Trump accused Beijing of pressuring the North because of current tensions in U.s.-china trade relations.