North Korea, U.S. in multiple preparatory meetings for summit
- 6 years ago
AP "北 김영철, 베이징 공항서 포착...워싱턴행"
Pyongyang and Washington are reportedly carrying out a multi-pronged diplomatic activity.
All possibly designed to assist with preparations for the summit between their leaders, originally set to be held on June 12 in Singapore.
Lee Ji-won starts us off with this rapid development.
North Korea and the United States seem to be getting closer to finally announcing that the first ever Pyongyang-Washington summit *will in fact be held.
The Vice Chairman of the North's Workers' Party, Kim Yong-chol , who is also in charge of the regime's United Front Department, arrived in Beijing Tuesday morning to fly to the U.S.
According to South Korea's Yonhap News, citing sources in China, Kim's name is on the list of people taking a flight to New York on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Kim has met several times with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he's expected to do the same this time as well.
Also in Beijing with Kim was the official in charge of North American affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, Choe Kang-il.
The two initially booked a New York-bound flight leaving Tuesday afternoon but postponed it to the next day.
The change in schedule was likely because a meeting was suddenly arranged between Kim and Chinese officials at the airport on Tuesday.
Observers say Kim and Pompeo are expected to put together the final pieces for the summit,... with preparatory meetings now well under way.
Regarding those preparations,... late Monday, an eight-member delegation from the North is said to have landed in Singapore, according sources there, to meet their U.S. counterparts.
The North Koreans are led by the Secretariat of the regime's State Affairs Commission, Kim Chang-son, a top logistics and protocol official.
The U.S. team, consisting of some 30 officials from the White House and State Department, led by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, arrived in the Southeast Asian city-state earlier that day.
Although the exact time of the meeting has not been disclosed, the two sides are expected to meet as early as Tuesday, to discuss logistics, protocol and specific venues and itineraries for Kim Jong-un and President Trump.
Representatives of the U.S. and North Korea are also believed to have resumed their meeting Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.
Those delegations are led respectively by former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator Sung Kim,... and North Korea's Choe Son-hui, who serves as the regime's vice foreign minister and is a former director of her ministry's North American department.
The talks began on Sunday but, according to diplomatic sources, they did not convene on Monday -- the two sides instead meeting among themselves.
The leaders of both delegations are experts in their fields, so observers say they will have worked on the summit's agenda and other details.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
Pyongyang and Washington are reportedly carrying out a multi-pronged diplomatic activity.
All possibly designed to assist with preparations for the summit between their leaders, originally set to be held on June 12 in Singapore.
Lee Ji-won starts us off with this rapid development.
North Korea and the United States seem to be getting closer to finally announcing that the first ever Pyongyang-Washington summit *will in fact be held.
The Vice Chairman of the North's Workers' Party, Kim Yong-chol , who is also in charge of the regime's United Front Department, arrived in Beijing Tuesday morning to fly to the U.S.
According to South Korea's Yonhap News, citing sources in China, Kim's name is on the list of people taking a flight to New York on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Kim has met several times with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he's expected to do the same this time as well.
Also in Beijing with Kim was the official in charge of North American affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, Choe Kang-il.
The two initially booked a New York-bound flight leaving Tuesday afternoon but postponed it to the next day.
The change in schedule was likely because a meeting was suddenly arranged between Kim and Chinese officials at the airport on Tuesday.
Observers say Kim and Pompeo are expected to put together the final pieces for the summit,... with preparatory meetings now well under way.
Regarding those preparations,... late Monday, an eight-member delegation from the North is said to have landed in Singapore, according sources there, to meet their U.S. counterparts.
The North Koreans are led by the Secretariat of the regime's State Affairs Commission, Kim Chang-son, a top logistics and protocol official.
The U.S. team, consisting of some 30 officials from the White House and State Department, led by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, arrived in the Southeast Asian city-state earlier that day.
Although the exact time of the meeting has not been disclosed, the two sides are expected to meet as early as Tuesday, to discuss logistics, protocol and specific venues and itineraries for Kim Jong-un and President Trump.
Representatives of the U.S. and North Korea are also believed to have resumed their meeting Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.
Those delegations are led respectively by former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator Sung Kim,... and North Korea's Choe Son-hui, who serves as the regime's vice foreign minister and is a former director of her ministry's North American department.
The talks began on Sunday but, according to diplomatic sources, they did not convene on Monday -- the two sides instead meeting among themselves.
The leaders of both delegations are experts in their fields, so observers say they will have worked on the summit's agenda and other details.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.