国际英语新闻:U.S. envoy for DPRK to visit Japan, S. Korea

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Stephen Biegun will visit Japan and South Korea next week, said the U.S. State Department on Friday.

Biegun will travel to Japan from Aug. 19 to 20 and Seoul from Aug. 20 to 22 to meet with officials there to discuss the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the department in a statement.

The U.S. envoy's trip came amid tensions on the peninsula following Pyongyang's short-range projectile launch earlier on Friday, the sixth of its kind in the past three weeks and seen as a protest against the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week told the press that he was hopeful that Washington and Pyongyang would get back to the negotiating table in the coming weeks.