South Korean officials off to China, Japan

SEOUL: Two senior South Korean officials who met with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un last week will split up to visit the leaders of China and Japan this week to update them on the talks, a South Korean presidential official said yesterday.

Blue House spokesperson Kim Euikyeom said that National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong will meet with China’s Xi Jinping today, while spy agency chief Suh Hoon, accompanied by one of Chung’s deputies Nam Gwan-pyo, will speak with Japan’s Shinzo Abe tomorrow.

Chung and Suh will leave for China and Japan separately today to discuss their visit to North Korea with officials there.

Chung is also scheduled to visit Russia after his trip to Beijing, but the details of that have yet to be announced. The two officials returned yesterday from a visit to the US where an invitation from North Korean leader Kim for dialogue on his nuclear programme was delivered to US President Donald Trump.

Trump agreed to meet with Kim and the two are expected to have the meeting some time before the end of May, although a time and place has not been set.

A Blue House official told reporters earlier yesterday that the truce village of Panmunjom at the inter-Korean border is a strong candidate for the US-North Korea summit.

Kim will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Panmunjom before the end of next month for the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

Other locations being floated in the media for the meeting between Trump and Kim include Switzerland, Sweden and the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

Officials from North Korea and the US will speak directly with each other, while South Korea will be asked to consult with both, the South Korean official said.

Trump said on Saturday that his planned meeting with Kim Jongun could end quickly without an agreement, or could result in “the greatest deal for the world” to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries.

“I may leave fast” if progress does not seem possible, Trump said at a campaign rally for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in western Pennsylvania.

Trump said he believed North Korea wanted to make peace and that: “I think it’s time”. – Reuters