US tries to find discreet way to pay for dictator’s digs

At an island resort off the coast of Singapore, US event planners are working day and night with their North Korean counterparts to set up a summit designed to bring an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

But a particularly awkward logistical issue remains unresolved, according to two people familiar with the talks: who’s going to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel stay?

The prideful but cash-poor pariah state requires that a foreign country foot the bill at its preferred lodging: The Fullerton, a magnificent neoclassical five-star hotel near the mouth of the Singapore River where just one presidential suite costs more than US$6000 (NZ$8600) per night.

When it came to paying for lodging at North Korea’s preferred luxury hotel, the US was open to covering the costs, the two sources said, but was mindful that Pyongyang could view a US payment as insulting. As a result, US planners are considering asking Singapore to pay the North Korean delegation’s bill.

The North Korean regime has a long history of making bold monetary demands.

During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea set aside US$2.6 million to cover travel and accommodation for a North Korean cheer squad, an art troupe and other members of a visiting delegation. The International Olympic Committee paid for 22 North Korean athletes to travel to the event.

In 2014, when former US director of national intelligence James Clapper Jr visited North Korea to retrieve two American prisoners, his hosts served him an ‘‘elaborate 12-course Korean meal’’ but then insisted that he pay for it, said Scott Snyder, a veteran US intelligence official and Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Any payment for the North Korean delegation’s accommodation would run afoul of US Treasury Department sanctions. The Trump administration is expected to request waivers from the United Nations and Treasury.

Figuring out how to pay Pyongyang’s hotel tab isn’t the only unusual planning obstacle that comes with hosting an event with the isolated regime.

The country’s outdated and underused Soviet-era aircraft may require a landing in China, due to concerns that they won’t be able to make the 4800km trip. Alternatively, the North Koreans might travel in a plane provided by another country.