Thread: North Korean officials and U.S. meet in Singapore ahead of summit

North Korean officials and U.S. meet in Singapore ahead of summit

By Bradford Betz | Fox News
2 hours ago

A top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore Monday evening to meet with U.S. government officials, an indication that the fragile June 12 summit with President Donald Trump will proceed, Reuters reported.

President Trump had abruptly called off the highly anticipated summit with Kim before retracting a day later.

Kim Jong Un’s chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, arrived in Singapore by way of Beijing, where he told reporters he was “going to play” in Singapore.

Meanwhile, U.S. government officials, flew to Singapore from U.S. Yokota Air Base in Japan, to work out the details of the June 12 summit.

Monday night’s pre-advance meeting follows a surprise second meeting between Kim Jon Ung and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday and a meeting between North Korean officials and the U.S. State Department on Sunday. Both meetings were held at the border village of Panmunjom.

The two Korean leaders had previously met in Panmunjom on April 27, to discuss denuclearization and a formal end to the Korean War – which technically hasn’t ended since 1953.

According to reports, Moon and Kim agreed on Saturday that the summit with Trump must proceed.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that North Korea completely abandon its nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting sanctions.

North Korea has said it will not give up its nuclear program until the United States withdraws its 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea and end its decades-long alliance with Seoul.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05...ad-summit.html

Looks like all the parties are really engaged and busy, busy, busy! Good! Maybe peace has a chance after all. I sure hope so.

And another meeting in the US with North Korea chief negotiator. WOW. HUUUGE.

North Korea's Kim Yong-chol 'heads to US for talks'

2 minutes ago

One of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's most senior officials is thought to be travelling to the US, as preparations for a possible summit gather pace.

South Korean news agency Yonhap said Gen Kim Yong-chol was due to arrive in the US on Wednesday, via Beijing.

This could be part of preparation for a proposed meeting between Mr Kim and President Donald Trump.

The meeting was thrown into doubt after Mr Trump pulled out last week.

But both sides have been working to get the summit - scheduled for 12 June in Singapore - back on track.

It would be the first time a North Korean leader has met a sitting US president.

Gen Kim was scheduled to fly to New York on Wednesday, after speaking with Chinese officials in Beijing, Yonhap reported, citing diplomatic sources.

He would be the most high-profile North Korean official to visit the US since 2000.

The apparent introduction of Gen Kim to negotiations would be significant, as it would underline North Korea's desire to ensure the talks go ahead.

A former spy chief, he has been part of recent high-profile diplomatic overtures by the North.

Who is General Kim Yong-chol?

Gen Kim, 72, is a controversial figure in neighbouring South Korea, and previously served as a negotiator in inter-Korean talks.

During his time as a military intelligence head, he was accused of being behind attacks on South Korean targets, including the torpedoing of a South Korea warship which killed 46 seamen, as well as the 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures.

As a result of these incidents, the US imposed personal sanctions on Gen Kim in 2010 and 2015.

Despite reportedly being punished for an "overbearing attitude" in 2016, he has continued to hold senior posts in the army and party, and was the head of North Korea's delegation to the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.

The influential figure is regularly seen at the North Korean leader's side and has attended meetings with the leaders of China and South Korea, and met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang.

In February, he was sent to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where he sat close to Mr Trump's daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump.

Also on Tuesday, a "pre-advance" team from the US was due to meet North Korean officials in Singapore, said US officials.

It follows a weekend of busy diplomacy, headlined by a surprise meeting between South Korea President Jae-In and Mr Kim in the border town of Panmunjom. At the meeting the pair agreed that the North Korea-US summit must be held.

The details of the potential US-North Korea meeting remain unclear, but discussions would address Pyongyang's nuclear programme and ways to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44286284

North Korea sends former top spy to US in bid to revive summit

By David K. Li
May 29, 2018 | 1:11am | Updated

North Korea sends former top spy to US in bid to revive summit

North Korea is sending its former spymaster to America in hopes of jump-starting the potential summit with President Trump, according to a report Tuesday.

Gen. Kim Yong-chol, former head of his nation’s spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, landed in Beijing on Tuesday and then revealed plans to go to Washington D.C. in the latest bid to reschedule the cancelled June 12 North Korea-US summit in Singapore, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kim will fly to New York City via Air China on Wednesday before heading to Washington, Yonhap said

Kim is well-known in North Korea and represented his nation at this year’s winter Olympics in South Korea — a key moment in the thawing North-South relationship.

President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had been set to meet in Singapore on June 12 until Trump cancelled it this past Thursday.

Trump later said the meeting could potentially move forward as originally planned

https://nypost.com/2018/05/29/north-...revive-summit/