South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy left for Japan on Tuesday to hold talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on ways to resume the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program, officials said.

Hwang Joon-kook is scheduled to meet with Ambassador Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Japanese chief envoy Junichi Ihara in Tokyo on Wednesday, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Hwang will make a three-day visit to Tokyo that also includes schedules for separate bilateral talks with the U.S. and Japan.

“We plan to exchange assessments over North Korea’s nuclear issues and to have comprehensive talks for coordination among the three nations,” Hwang said.

The six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs ― involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia ― have been dormant since late 2008, when Pyongyang walked away from the bargaining table.

The trilateral meeting comes as the relations between the U.S. and North Korea have deteriorated as the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on the North early this month following the North’s alleged hacking of Sony Pictures.

There are growing concerns here that Washington’s tough stance on the North may hamper Seoul’s efforts to improve its ties with Pyongyang at a time when South Korea is awaiting response from the North over its offer in late December to hold high-level talks.

Kim, the U.S. nuclear envoy, said on Jan. 14 that inter-Korean dialogue will support Washington’s overall efforts on North Korea’s denuclearization as well.

A ranking Korean official also dismissed the view on Monday that the U.S. shut the door to dialogue with North Korea, saying that Washington’s pressure is aimed at prodding Pyongyang into changing its course toward denuclearization.

North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Pyongyang has called for the resumption of the six-party talks without preconditions following its third nuclear test in February 2013. But Seoul and Washington have insisted that the North should first show its sincere commitment toward denuclearization.

The North offered on Jan. 10 to temporarily halt nuclear tests if the U.S. suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea this year, a proposal flatly rejected by Seoul and Washington. (Yonhap)