North Korea: US Vice-President Mike Pence was set for secret meeting with Kim Jong-un’s sister during Winter Olympics before last minute cancellation
US vice-president was to use meeting to deliver Donald Trump’s tough stance against North Korea face-to-face
US Vice-President Mike Pence departed for a five-day, two country swing through Asia earlier this month having agreed to a secret meeting with North Korean officials while in South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
But on Saturday February 10, less than two hours before Pence and his team were set to meet with Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, the regime’s nominal head of state, the North Koreans pulled out of the scheduled meeting, according to Pence’s office.
The North Korean decision to withdraw from the meeting came after Pence had used his trip to denounce their nuclear ambitions and announce the “toughest and most aggressive” sanctions against the regime yet, while also taking steps to further solidify the US alliance with both Japan and South Korea.
It also came as Kim Jong-un, through his sister, invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang to begin talks “soon” – a development that would likely cause consternation in Washington, where the Trump administration has been leading a campaign to put “maximum pressure” on the Kim regime to give up its nuclear programme. Moon said through a spokesman that he would try to make it happen.
“North Korea dangled a meeting in hopes of the vice-president softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics,” said Nick Ayers, the vice-president’s chief of staff, while also pointing to the specific events Pence held to highlight human rights abuses by Pyongyang.
The vice-president’s office said the North Koreans expressed their dissatisfaction with Pence’s announcement of new sanctions as well as his meeting with North Korean defectors when cancelling the meeting.