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A senior North Korea official has flown to Finland for talks with former US and South Korean officials, in the latest round of a flurry of diplomatic encounters ahead of a proposed summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
Choe Kang-il, deputy director-general for North American affairs at the North Korean foreign ministry will meet with former American diplomats including, reported Yonhap news agency, one-time US ambassador to Seoul, Kathleen Stephens, and South Korean security experts.
Ms Stephens, a career diplomat who began her career in Beijing, served as ambassador to Seoul from 2008 to 2011 and speaks fluent Korean. Viewed as a Korea expert, in 2015 she was named a distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Centre.
The South Korean foreign ministry told CNN that the quasi-official talks will address the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, although Mr Choe declined to comment as he boarded a flight from Beijing to Helsinki on Sunday.
A Finnish foreign ministry spokesperson told Finland’s STT news agency that the talks would be “academic” and on the issue of “international relations".
Mr Choe, a veteran diplomat who often represents the reclusive regime on the global stage, also attended talks between foreign minister Ri Yong-ho and his Swedish counterpart, Margot Wallstrom, in Stockholm last week.
Ms Wallstrom said that Sweden stood ready to assist the US and North Korea in moving towards their unprecedented summit, telling reporters that the Swedish government “values this opportunity to arrange a meeting” between the traditional foes.
Neil Connor
Sweden, which performs consular activities for the US in Pyongyang as it has no embassy, is also reported to be negotiating for the release of three Americans currently imprisoned in North Korea.
Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk were detained in 2017 on suspicion of “hostile acts” and Kim Dong Chul was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to ten years for espionage.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has so far remained silent on President Trump’s surprise acceptance of his offer to meet him in person and the regime has not formally acknowledged the summit.
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However, South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha sought to quell doubts over North Korea’s sincerity during a visit to Washington last week.
Mr Kim had personally “given his word” on proceeding towards denuclearisation, she said in an interview with CBS.
She added that the North Korean leader “would also need some time given the readiness with which President Trump has accepted the invitation to talks,” and that Pyongyang was probably now “taking stock.”