North Korea willing to hold talks with US after Olympics send-off
● Kim wants to improve ties with Washington, says envoy
A North Korean envoy has said his country is willing to open talks with the United States.
General Kim Yong Chol – whom Seoul has claimed masterminded two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans – was in South Korea for the end of the Winter Olympics yesterday.
He said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wanted to improve ties with Washington and had “ample intentions of holding talks” with its rival, according to the South’s presidential office.
Gen Kim made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jaein, who is eager to engage the North after one of the most hostile periods in recent years on the Korean Peninsula.
Mr Moon was invited a day after the opening ceremony to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim Jong Un. He also said Washington and Pyongyang should meet soon to “fundamentally solve” the stand-off.
Gen Kim later sat in the VIP box at the Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang for the Games’ closing ceremony, just feet from Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and the top US military commander on the peninsula, General Vincent Brooks.
The former anti- seoul militaryintelligence chief watched pop stars and firework displays and stood for the South Korean national anthem.
Even the faintest possibility of diplomacy will be welcomed by many.
However, there will also be scepticism among conservatives in Seoul and Washington.
Many will be left wondering if the North is simply looking for economic relief after a series of increasingly tough international sanctions were imposed on Pyongyang for its illicit weapons programmes or more time to develop those weapons.
Mr Moon has yet to accept the North’s invitation for a summit, but he has advocated engagement with Pyongyang his entire political career and probably wants to go.
However, he must first strike a balance with Washington, which has a policy meant to isolate and sanction the North until it agrees to give up nuclear weapons.
Some observers believe Pyongyang is trying to drive a wedge to win concessions from Seoul.
Gen Kim was head of the North’s military intelligence when the 2010 attacks on South Korea took place. He is a vice-chairman of the ruling party’s central committee tasked with inter-korea relations.
With decades of experience, Gen Kim is one of the most powerful people in the North’s ruling regime.
Seoul decided to temporarily take him off a blacklist to allow the visit.
South Korea is hoping to ease tensions by having allowed the North to participate in the games and send senior delegations.
Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, attended the Games’ opening ceremony in a historic first.
No member of the ruling Kim family had travelled to the South before.
She invited Mr Moon to a summit with her brother in Pyongyang.
The delegation to the closing ceremony was expected to follow up on that invitation while in South Korea.
North and South Korea marched under one flag at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony and fielded a unified women’s ice hockey team.
Earlier a statement released by North Korean state media accused the US of provoking confrontation on the peninsula with Friday’s sanctions announcement.
Mr Trump warned of serious consequences if the latest round of sanctions against North Korea did not generate results.
“If the sanctions don’t work, we’ll have to go phase two – and phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very, very unfortunate for the world,” he said.