US envoy to North Korea arrives in Beijing to discuss ‘coordination on policies’
- Stephen Biegun’s latest trip to China may signal Washington seeks its help breaking stalemate with Pyongyang, analyst says
- US had been playing down role for China, since it could be used for leverage in trade-war talks
The US envoy for North Korea is visiting Beijing this week, a sign Washington seeks China’s help in reviving nuclear disarmament negotiations after the summit meeting in Vietnam between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un collapsed last month.
Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, is in Beijing “to continue US-China coordination on policies related to North Korea”, the US embassy confirmed in an email to the South China Morning Post.
No details about the arrangements of Biegun’s meetings were disclosed. Biegun, who was appointed to the role in August, visited Beijing in September and January, when he met Kong Xuanyou, China’s special representative for Korean peninsula affairs.
Biegun arrived in Beijing on Sunday, less than two days after Trump overruled a decision by the US Treasury Department to impose new sanctions on North Korea.
“It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” Trump posted on Twitter on Friday. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”