President Biden announced Friday night that he has tapped Sung Kim, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, as special envoy to North Korea.
Mr. Biden made the announcement at a White House press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the two leaders held their first face-to-face meeting. He called Mr. Kim “a career diplomat with deep policy expertise.”
Mr. Moon praised Mr. Kim as a “man of high caliber with expertise in the Korean Peninsula issues.”
The administration recently completed a review of its policy toward North Korea, a nuclear-armed communist nation led by dictator Kim Jong Un that poses a continual security challenge for the Republic of Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
Mr. Biden said his advisers closely consulted with South Korea during its policy review. He said he and Mr. Moon spoke on Friday about their “shared approach [to] the continuing threat of the DPRK nuclear and missile programs.”
“We both are deeply concerned about the situation,” Mr. Biden said. “Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions, as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
