Replacement of North Korea’s top envoy for nuclear talks with US a ‘positive signal’, analysts say
- Kim Yong-chol, a senior trusted official, has been sacked as the negotiator for nuclear talks with the US
- But he is likely to retain his high standing in the Workers’ Party, analysts say, as the dismissal indicates diplomacy will be returned to the foreign ministry
Kim Yong-chol, the senior official who delivered Kim’s letters to Trump and has acted as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s counterpart, was dismissed as the chief of the United Front Department, said the head of the South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee Lee Hye-hoon.
“We’ve been informed by the NIS that he has been replaced by Jang Kum-chol,” Lee told journalists, referring to the National Intelligence Service. “Kim Yong-chol was apparently held responsible for the failure of the Hanoi summit.”
The little-known Jang is reportedly in his late 50s and has spent his career working on civilian exchanges between the two Koreas.
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Despite the replacement, Kim Yong-chol maintains his high status within the ruling Workers’ Party as a vice-chairman of its decision-making Central Committee, analysts say.
Kim Yong-chol was largely responsible for the failure of the Hanoi summit by insisting on excessive relief of sanctions and making his leader look unprepared for a deal.
Recently, he and other nuclear negotiators, including First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui, became members of the powerful State Affairs Commission to which Kim Jong-un was also re-elected as chairman.
Professor Yang Moo-jin, of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said officials from the foreign ministry would be better able to exercise flexibility during negotiations.
“The North’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and his First Vice Minister Choe, both career diplomats, may be more flexible in dealing with the US than Kim Yong-chol who hails from the military,” Yang said. “However, all are up to the leader under the one-man rule in the North, and it is almost impossible for any official to take a step without a direct order from Kim Jong-un.”
Cheong Seong-chang, of the Sejong Institute, said the replacement of envoys was an encouraging development in nuclear talks.
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“This is a very positive signal to the denuclearisation negotiations,” Cheong said. “Kim Yong-chol was largely responsible for the failure of the Hanoi summit by insisting on excessive relief of sanctions and making his leader look unprepared for a deal.
“The best scenario sought by him and other hawks in the North is that the North partially gives up its nuclear programmes in return for the lifting of core parts of sanctions. But this cannot be accepted by the US,” he said.
