Anchor: With less than ten days left until the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, the two sides are soon expected to hold working-level meetings in Vietnam. 
Lee Bo-kyung has more.

Report: U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol are expected to hold talks around Wednesday of this week. 

The two will meet in Vietnam and attempt to arrange a Hanoi declaration for U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to endorse following their second summit set for February 27th and 28th. 

Biegun recently told South Korean lawmakers visiting Washington that his previous discussions with Kim Hyok-Chol centered on the summit’s logistics and that the two sides would now have to address critical issues.

During the pre-summit talks, negotiators will try to sequence what steps each side will take for denuclearization and the corresponding measures.  

North Korea wants the removal of U.S.-led sanctions and the resumption of inter-Korean economic projects. In return, the U.S. may require the North to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear complex, dismantle key missile facilities, while allowing foreign inspectors to verify the moves. 

President Trump, however, told reporters last week that he is in no rush. 

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump] 
"But we hope we’re going to be very much equally as successful. I’m in no rush for speed.  We just don’t want testing.  The sanctions, as you know, remain. Everything is remaining."  

North Korean experts suggested that the U.S. could offer opening a liaison office in Pyongyang in lieu of removing sanctions and sign a declaration formally ending the Korean War. 

U.S. magazine Politico said on Sunday that if Trump is able to secure meaningful concessions from Kim at the Hanoi summit, it could be the diplomatic victory that propels Trump to re-election in 2020, but that failure could be a costly political blow. 

On Sunday, the North Korean propaganda site “Meari” stressed that the North Korean leader was sincere in his commitment to denuclearize and called for a major breakthrough in U.S.-North Korea ties, adding that there’s no reason the two countries can’t witness improved relations like the two Koreas.
Lee Bo-kyung, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : YONHAP News]