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Agencies

Zhenhua Lu

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would happen on June 12 in Singapore after all, despite calling it off last week.
He made the announcement after meeting with top North Korean dignitary Kim Yong-chol at the White House – the first visit to Washington by a key official from the isolated country in at least 18 years.
Who is Kim Yong-chol, the North Korean official representing Kim Jong-un?
Speaking after the meeting, Trump said: “We are going to deal and we are really going to start a process. Remember what I say, we will see what we will see.”


He added that he spoke with the North Korean envoy about sanctions on the reclusive regime. The two sides do not expect to sign any agreement on June 12, he said.
“I look forward to the day I can take the sanctions off North Korea,” Trump added.


Trump said that North Korea was interested in denuclearisation, and that the US was now starting a “process” and a “relationship” that he believed would ultimately be successful.
Kim Yong-chol, 72, a former North Korean spy chief who has been involved in decades of nuclear talks, also delivered a letter to Trump from Kim Jong-un.
Trump said that the meeting had initially begun as a letter presentation, but had developed into “a longer conversation”. He said the letter was “very nice” and “very interesting” – but then said he had not opened it yet.
Kim tells Russian envoy he is committed to denuclearisation
Trump also said the US would not impose any additional sanctions on North Korea for the time being. “We had hundreds of new sanctions ready to go,” he said, but promised they won’t be imposed “until the talks break down.”
Sue Mi Terry, a former Korea analyst for the CIA, told the ﻿South China Morning Post that, as North Korea’s top intelligence official, Kim Yong-chol is Kim Jong-un’s “right hand man” and has his leader’s trust, she added, saying, “He can speak and negotiate on behalf of Kim Jong-un” with Trump.

After the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, Trump walked Kim out of the White House. They continued to speak and posed for photos before Kim got into a black SUV and departed.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that two days of talks with Kim Yong-chol in New York had contributed “real progress” towards the planned summit, adding that the US hopes it will lead to the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” end to North Korea’s nuclear programme.
And while Kim Jong-un, during a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister in Pyongyang on Thursday, said the North’s will for denuclearisation is “unchanged and consistent and fixed”, it is still unclear if his vision fits with Washington’s strict demands.
North Korea tourism revival expected in China as relations thaw
After two meetings with Kim Jong-un and three with Kim Yong-chol, however, Pompeo said he thought the North was at least ready to consider addressing US demands for denuclearisation.
“I believe they are contemplating a path forward,” Pompeo said. “They can make a strategic shift, one that their country has not been prepared to make before. This will obviously be their decision.”

Pompeo added: “It will take bold leadership from Chairman Kim Jong-un if we were able to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course for the world.
“President Trump and I believe Chairman Kim is the kind of leader who can make those kind of decisions, and in the coming weeks and months, we will have the opportunity to test whether or not this is the case.”
“This is a difficult, difficult challenge. Make no mistake about it. There remains a great deal of work to do,” he said.
North and South Korea resume peace talks in border village
The North Korean visit to the White House on Friday is the first since 2000, when President Bill Clinton met with Jo Myong-rok, a special envoy for Kim Jong-il, in an unsuccessful bid to win the reclusive nation’s nuclear disarmament.
They met for 45 minutes and Jo brought Clinton a letter from Kim, the father of North Korea’s current leader.

To make his trip this week, Kim Yong-chol needed special permission for travel to the United States because he had been blacklisted.
South Korea has accused him of masterminding deadly attacks on a South Korean warship and an island in 2010, and US intelligence linked him to a cyberattack on Sony Pictures in 2014.
Trump-Kim talks still not confirmed - but there’s progress, Pompeo says
Meanwhile, North and South Korean officials continue their dialogue on Friday at the border village of Panmunjom.
There, senior officials from the rival nations agreed to hold military and Red Cross talks later this month intent on reducing tensions and resuming reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean war.
They also agreed to establish a liaison office at the North Korean border town of Kaesong soon and hold talks on fielding combined teams in some sports at the Asian Games in August.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has made significant advances in recent years and poses a threat to the United States. Trump’s main goal in any talks is to eliminate that threat.
Kim has rejected previous US calls for North Korea’s unilateral nuclear disarmament and argued instead for a “phased” approach to denuclearisation of the entire Korean peninsula. That in the past has also meant removal of the US nuclear umbrella protecting South Korea and Japan.
Reporting by Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters



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North Korea

North Korean talks are back on, Donald Trump says after meeting with top North Korean envoy

North Korean envoy Kim Yong-chol talks with US President Donald Trump as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looks on after a meeting at the White House in Washington on June 1. Photo: Reuters

epa06777180 A handout photo made available by the United States Department of State (DoS) on 01 June 2018 shows North Korea's Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee Kim Yong-chol meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York City, New York, USA, 31 May 2018. EPA-EFE/US DEPARTMENT OF STATE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

epa06777507 North Korea's chief delegate and Committee for Peaceful Reunification chairman Ri Son-gwon (C) crosses over the military demarcation line the end of their high-level talks with South Korean Unification Minister and chief delegate Cho Myoung-gyon (not pictured) at the Peace House on the southern side of Panmunjom, in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), 01 June 2018. The meeting is a follow-up to the 27 April summit between the Koreas. EPA-EFE/STRINGER / POOL

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is seen in the Oval Office with a member of the North Korean delegation after North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol arrived to deliver a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Chief of staff John Kelly walks along the Colonnade toward the Oval Office with Kim Yong Chol, former North Korean military intelligence chief and one of leader Kim Jong Un's closest aides, as he arrives at the White House in Washington on Friday, June 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

epa06777186 A handout photo made available by the United States Department of State (DoS) on 01 June 2018 shows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C) showing New York City landmarks to North Korea's Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee Kim Yong-chol (L) prior to a working dinner in New York City, New York, USA, 30 May 2018. EPA-EFE/US DEPARTMENT OF STATE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

North and South Korea resume peace talks in border village

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (left) shakes hands with North Korea’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification Chairman Ri Son-gwon at the Peace House on the southern side of Panmunjom in the Korean demilitarised zone on June 1, 2018. Photo: EPA

North Korean delegation chief Ri Son Gwon (front), head of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, crosses the inter-Korean border at the truce village of Panmunjeom to attend a high-level meeting with South Korea on June 1, 2018. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

TOPSHOT - This photograph taken on May 26, 2018 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 27 shows South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R) signing a guestbook as North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un looks on during their second summit at the north side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Kim Jong Un believes a summit with US President Donald Trump will be a landmark opportunity to end decades of confrontation, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said May 27 following his surprise meeting with the North Korean leader. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / - / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED

North Korean delegation led by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country walk toward the concrete border to attend a meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, June 1, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

Mike Pompeo says Korea summit talks are ‘moving in right direction’ but meeting still isn’t confirmed

North Korean Vice-Chairman Kim Yong-chul and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the start of their meeting in New York on Thursday. Photo: Twitter

FILE - This Nov. 29, 2017, file image provided by the North Korean government on Nov. 30, 2017, shows what the North Korean government calls the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. When U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Singapore in June 2018, they will have two very different agendas. Kim would love to keep his nukes. And Trump would love to take them all away, ASAP. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for the "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act," in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence looks on, right. In a dramatic diplomatic turn, Trump on Thursday canceled next month's summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a recent statement by the North. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Pompeo press briefing after talks with Kim

US tries to salvage Trump summit with Kim Jong-un’s right-hand man as Russia’s Sergei Lavrov invites North Korean leader to Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on May 31, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / TASS/POOL / Valery SHARIFULIN

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (front) walks down the airplane as he arrives in Pyongyang on May 31, 2018. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Pyongyang on May 31, North Korea's state media said, ahead of a landmark summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. / AFP PHOTO / KIM Won-Jin

epa06774820 A handout photo made available via Twitter by the US State Department showing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meeting with Kim Yong Chol (2-R) of North Korea as they reportedly made efforts salvage US President's Trump's planned summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un in New York City, New York, USA, 30 May 2018 (issued 31 May 2018). EPA-EFE/STATE DEPARTMENT / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

epa06774819 A handout photo made available via Twitter by the US State Department shows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) meeting with Kim Yong Chol (L) of North Korea as they reportedly made efforts salvage US President's Trump's planned summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un in New York City, New York, USA, 30 May 2018 (issued 31 May 2018). EPA-EFE/STATE DEPARTMENT / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Explainer: Who is Kim Yong-chol, the North Korean official heading to US to represent Kim Jong-un?

Senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol (foreground, pictured in February) is expected to arrive in New York this week to hold talks with American representatives in preparation for a US-North Korea summit meeting. Photo: Kyodo

In this image made from video, Kim Yong Chol, in white, a former military intelligence chief who is now Kim Jong Un's top official on inter-Korean relations, walks upon arrival at Beijing airport in Beijing Tuesday, May 29, 2018. He was at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's side at the table in last weekend's North-South summit, and had been a prominent senior official in other important talks. It was not possible to confirm the reason for his visit to Beijing, or if he would be traveling on to another destination. (AP Photo)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in as Kim Yong Chol, North Korea¡¯s Vice-chairman of the central committee of the Workers¡¯ Party of Korea (WPK), listens during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, North Korea, in this handout picture provided by the Presidential Blue House on May 26, 2018. Picture taken on May 26, 2018. The Presidential Blue House /Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

REFILE - REMOVING ERRONEOUS INFORMATION AND ADDING MISSING INFORMATION Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Closing ceremony - Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February 25, 2018 - South Korean President Moon Jae-in and South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook, Ivanka Trump, senior White House adviser, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, South Korea's Constitutional Court President Lee Jin-sung and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Vincent Brooks and Kim Yong-chol of the North Korean delegation, attend the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Murad Sezer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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Trump made the announcement after Kim Yong-chol became the first key North Korean official visit to Washington in at least 18 years


Trump made the announcement after Kim Yong-chol became the first key North Korean official visit to Washington in at least 18 years.


North Korean talks are back on, Donald Trump says after meeting with top North Korean envoy

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Trump made the announcement after Kim Yong-chol became the first key North Korean official visit to Washington in at least 18 years

Trump made the announcement after Kim Yong-chol became the first key North Korean official visit to Washington in at least 18 years