North Korean official heads for talks in Sweden: report

A top North Korean diplomat was travelling to Sweden Tuesday, she told reporters, as speculation mounts over the next summit between the isolated state's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Choe Son Hui, a North Korean vice-minister of foreign affairs, landed in Beijing on a flight from the North Korean capital Pyongyang.

"I am going to an international conference in Sweden," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted her as saying on arrival at the airport.

Choe's trip comes as expectations grow for a second meeting between Kim and Trump -- despite a lack of progress in denuclearisation negotiations -- after the North Korean leader went to Beijing, long Pyongyang's key ally, last week for talks with President Xi Jinping.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Kim's trip to China was a sign a second US-North Korean summit was "imminent", and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added at the weekend that: "We're working out the details".

Suggestions circulating among Korea-watchers for possible venues include Vietnam and Thailand, among others.

Stockholm has a long history of mediating between Washington and Pyongyang -- while the two do not have diplomatic relations, Sweden is the protecting power for US citizens in the Asian country, and Choe has been intimately involved in the US-North Korean relationship.

Before she assumed her current position, she was director general of the foreign ministry's North American department.

She was also among the officials who accompanied Kim to Singapore for his first summit with Trump in June.

The meeting, held in a blaze of publicity, saw the two men sign a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards "the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what that means.

Pyongyang is seeking sanctions relief and rejects demands for what it calls its "unilateral" disarmament, while Washington insists that the punitive measures must stay in place until it gives up its nuclear arsenal.

Citing a diplomatic source, the South's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Tuesday that Kim Yong Chol, Pompeo's counterpart in the discussion process, was expected to visit Washington later this week for talks.

There were no reports that he had passed through Beijing.

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

China's Xi hopes US, N. Korea will 'meet halfway'
Seoul (AFP) Jan 10, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un firm backing in deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States, insisting the two sides should meet "halfway", state media said Thursday. Kim visited Beijing by train this week for two days of discussions that reasserted China's role in the process, and were seen as a strategy session ahead of a second summit between the North Korean leader and US President Donald Trump. At their first meeting in Singapore in June, Kim and Tru ... read more