N. Korean envoy in Sweden amid plans for Trump-Kim meeting

HONG KONG — North Korea’s foreign minister flew to Sweden on Thursday, amid speculation that the country could be used as a venue for hammering out details of the planned talks between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, or could be the site of the talks themselves.

Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was seen at Beijing’s international airport Thursday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, following earlier reports that he might go to Sweden. Hours later, the Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed that Ri would indeed be visiting the country for talks Thursday and Friday.

Sweden has long played an intermediary role between the United States and North Korea, which do not have diplomatic relations. With the United States lacking an embassy in North Korea, Sweden is the so-called protecting power that provides consular services for Americans, including meeting with citizens who are imprisoned there.

Sweden has also been the site of talks between North Korean officials and experts from the United States, South Korea and elsewhere.

Other locations that have been mentioned as possible sites for the Trump-Kim talks include the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea; Washington; Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and Switzerland.

Any meeting, should it actually come to fruition, would probably be held by May, said Chung Euiyong, a South Korean official who conveyed the invitation to the White House.

Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Löfven, said Saturday that he was willing to host a meeting between Trump and Kim.

“If we can help in any way, we will do it,” Löfven said at a news conference.

During Ri’s two-day trip to Stockholm, he will meet with Margot Wallstrom, Sweden’s foreign minister, the Swedish government said in a statement. The newspaper Dagens Nyheter said the talks would not include U.S. or South Korean officials, but added that the United States and South Korea had been involved in preparations for the talks with Ri.

Ri’s trip to Sweden came as South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, traveled to Washington on Thursday to meet with State Department officials with the aim of keeping a TrumpKim meeting on track

“It is necessary to maintain close coordination at various levels in making preparations for critical diplomatic events going forward,” Kang said, alluding to relations between Washington and Seoul, South Korea.