ArirangNews

North Korea and the U.S. are into their third day of negotiations in Pyeongyang.
Officials from both sides are working to sort out the details for their upcoming summit, which is less than three weeks away.
For more, let's turn to our Park Hee-jun at the foreign ministry.
Hee-jun, give us the latest.

The U.S State Department has confirmed that negotiations are underway.
According to the State Department deputy spokesperson, Biegun is in Pyeongyang preparing for the summit with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol.
He had nothing to say about when Biegun will return from the North,... or about the agendas to be discussed by the two leaders in Vietnam.
But he did say that the details are being sorted out and that Washington looks forward to a very good summit.

Biegun's team left for Pyeongyang on Wednesday, so they're now in their third day of negotiations.
They're believed to be drafting a joint statement for the two leaders to adopt.
That requires them to define what North Korea needs to do to denuclearize,... and what the U.S. would offer as corresponding measures.
The negotiations could end today,... or they could go on into the weekend.
It's also unclear whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet Biegun before he heads home.

And will he return straight to Washington after finishing the negotiations with North Korea?

Like I said, it's unclear how long Biegun will stay in the North Korean capital.
But we do know that Biegun will return to Seoul after his trip to the North.
A foreign ministry official told us reporters yesterday,... that he has promised to brief the South Korean government first on the details of what was discussed.
And that's likely to involve another set of working-level discussions with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon.
Biegun could also share the outcome of the talks with Japan.
According to Kyodo News, his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi is scheduled to visit Seoul today for a two-day trip.
The report says he will meet both South Korean and U.S. nuclear envoys during his stay.
A foreign ministry official said that nothing has been decided concerning the Japanese official.
And if these follow-up talks do take place, they're expected to draw up a new strategy for the Vietnam summit.
Ji-yoon.