US envoy to Phl leads team in NoKor visit
US Ambassador Sung Kim, a career diplomat with expertise in Korean affairs, led a team of US officials to North Korea to prepare for the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. According to a report in The
Washington Post, Kim, a former US ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator with the North, has been called in from his post as envoy to the Philippines to lead the preparations for the summit.
“Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the summit between Kim JongUn and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one day. Kim Jong-Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!” Trump announced in his Twitter account.
The Post added that Kim met with North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui. The two were part of the US and North Korean delegations that negotiated the 2005 denuclearization agreement through the six-party framework.
Early this month, Kim, a Korean-American, said the overall atmosphere and tone of Philippines-US relations have “improved.”
“I said this publicly whenever I meet with President Duterte. We have a terrific discussion about the full range of issues including (those) between our two countries – frank, honest, direct but always cordial and professional,” Kim said.
SEOUL (AP) — Diplomacy accelerated yesteday ahead of a potential summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jongun as a team of American diplomats involved in preparatory discussions left a Seoul hotel, possibly to continue talks with their North Korean counterparts.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol planned to head to the United States, potentially for more talks to set up the summit over the future of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. He would be the most senior North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years.
It’s possible the trip could be a reciprocal visit after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang twice in recent weeks for meetings with Kim, after which he said there was a “shared understanding’’ between Washington and Pyongyang about what they hope to achieve in the summit. It remains unclear who Kim Yong Chol would meet in the United States if he goes.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Washington and Pyongyang were engaging in “working-level’’ talks to arrange the possible summit, but said it couldn’t confirm specifics. Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk also did not say whether Seoul knew of any US plans regarding Kim Yong Chol’s possible visit, such as whether he and Pompeo have plans to meet.
“Through the working-level contacts, both sides will likely start the genuine efforts to coordinate on issues to set up the summit,’’ Noh said.