A South Korean diplomatic source says the United States and North Korea are expected to soon launch working-level negotiations to prepare for their second bilateral summit slated for late next month. 

The source on Wednesday said it is likely former North Korean Ambassador to Spain Kim Hyok-chol will handle negotiations with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun. 

The source said the working-level talks will likely be held in early February, given Biegun is scheduled to give a lecture at Stanford University on Thursday. 

Politico quoted an unnamed source on Tuesday as saying that Biegun will meet with a North Korean counterpart at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom on Monday of next week. 

The working-level meeting is expected to focus on advance coordination of major issues to be dealt with during the forthcoming summit, including concrete actions the North can take for denuclearization and possible corresponding measures from the U.S.