Kim shuffles nuclear talks team after defections

SEOUL: Veteran North Korean diplomats are being sidelined from nuclear talks ahead of a second summit with the United States as recent defections and allegations of spying undermine the trust of leader Kim Jong-un, South Korean officials and experts say.

Kim has purged and replaced many top diplomats and officials who served his father and grandfa- ther with new, younger advisors as he gears up to meet US President Donald Trump in Vietnam next week. Among the most significant changes, Kim has appointed little-known Kim Hyok-chol to spearhead working-level talks with US nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun.

A former ambassador to Spain who was expelled in 2017 after N.Korean nuclear and missile tests, Hyok-chol has been working at the State Affairs Commission, a top governing body chaired by the young leader, a South Korean official said.

He replaced Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who led negotiations in the run up to the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June.

“It’s a big boys’ game and many diplomats are being neglected, as they face fierce inter-agency rivalry and questions about their ideological faithfulness given their experience in richer, capitalist nations,” the South Korean official said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“Kim Hyok-chol is a career diplomat too, but he apparently has passed a loyalty test to become the point man in the negotiations.” — Reuters