Washington: A top North Korean general is here Friday for a rare visit, during which he is expected to meet President Donald Trump as the two countries seek to finalise a new summit aimed at de-nuclearisation and easing decades of hostility.
Kim Yong Chol, a right-hand man to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrived Thursday evening in the US capital, the latest peace-making mission just a year after once-soaring tensions began to abate.
The North Korean negotiator abruptly cancelled his last planned talks in the United States – a meeting set two months ago in New York with Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo and this time the US administration has treaded cautiously, not announcing his visit in advance.
But an American source, who could not be identified as the schedule has not been announced, said that Pompeo would welcome Kim, Friday for a meal here before the two are expected to head together to the White House.
Trump has repeatedly voiced eagerness to see Kim Jong Un again after their landmark June summit in Singapore, the first meeting ever between sitting leaders from the two countries that never formally ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Trump has repeatedly hailed his diplomacy as a triumph. He recently said that there would have been ‘a nice big fat war in Asia’ if it were not for him. He has said to expect an announcement soon about the second summit, with diplomats seeing Vietnam and Thailand as possible venues.
For Trump, the made-for-television summitry with the young and elusive North Korean leader also offers a welcome respite from news at home.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is probing whether Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia, and his insistence that Congress fund a wall on the Mexican border has shuttered the US government for nearly a month.
For Kim, the stakes are more existential as he seeks guarantees of the survival of his regime. Kim, backed by ally China as well as South Korea’s dovish government, is also hoping for an easing of international sanctions, but the United States insists on maintaining maximum pressure until Pyongyang moves forward on giving up its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo in a recent interview voiced hope at reaching a deal with North Korea that would ‘create a much better, safer America’ but cautioned that it was unlikely to be finished during the next summit.
AFP
