TOP NORTH KOREAN AIDE IN SINGAPORE TO PLAN FOR US SUMMIT
▶ Pyongyang’s de facto chief of staff flies in ahead of American officials
A top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Singapore on Monday night prompting hope that the summit with US President Donald Trump will go ahead.
Japanese broadcaster NHK yesterday said that Kim Changson, the leader’s de facto chief of staff, flew to Singapore through Beijing on Monday night.
At the same time a team of US government officials, including the White House deputy chief of staff for operations Joe Hagin, left US Yokota Air Base in Japan for Singapore on Monday.
The White House said an advance team was travelling to Singapore to meet the North Korean deputation.
The reports indicate that planning for the summit, initially scheduled for June 12, is progressing after Mr Trump called it off last week. A day later, he said he had reconsidered, and officials were meeting to work out details.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Kim Yong-chol, a senior official dealing with inter-Korean affairs, was scheduled to fly to the US today after speaking to Chinese officials in Beijing, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.
Due to sanctions against him, Kim Yong-chol is banned from visiting the US. His visit indicates a waiver was granted.
The US and South Korea blacklisted Kim Yong-chol for supporting the North’s nuclear and missile programmes in 2010 and 2016.
Yonhap said that Choe Kangil, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official involved in North America issues, was also seen at Beijing Capital International Airport. Yonhap did not say whether Mr Choe would be accompanying Kim Yong-chol.
Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a surprise meeting on Saturday at the village of Panmunjom, during which they agreed that the summit between North Korea and the US must be held.
And on Sunday, the US State Department said American and North Korean officials had met at Panmunjom.
Sung Kim, the former US ambassador to South Korea and current ambassador to the Philippines, led that American delegation, a US official said.
Mr Moon said on Monday that there could be more impromptu talks between the two Koreas in the lead-up to the summit.
In Mr Kim and Mr Moon’s first meeting on April 27, they agreed to seek the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula but did not give any details.
North Korea has since rejected US demands for it to abandon its nuclear weapons programme that some experts say could threaten America. Pyongyang also demanded that the US halt joint military drills with South Korea if it wanted talks.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said it did not have plans to change exercise schedules with the US military.
Analysts believe Washington is trying to determine whether North Korea is willing to agree on sufficient steps towards denuclearisation to allow a summit to take place.
North Korea defends its nuclear and missile programmes as a deterrent against perceived aggression by the US, which keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
It has long said it is open to giving up its nuclear arsenal if the US withdraws its troops from South Korea and ends its “nuclear umbrella” alliance with Seoul.
The White House said an advance team was travelling to Singapore to meet the North Koreans