2nd US-DPRK summit the focus of talks

Top official from Pyongyang spends night in Washington - first in 20 years

WASHINGTON - A top official from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was paying a rare visit on Friday to Washington, where he is expected to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and even US President Donald Trump to finalize a new summit aimed at denuclearization and easing decades of hostility.

Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of the DPRK's ruling Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, and also the lead negotiator in nuclear diplomacy with the United States, is the first DPRK dignitary in nearly two decades known to have spent the night in the US capital.

A US source, who could not be identified, said Pompeo would invite him to an early lunch before the two likely head together to the White House, a short drive away.

Neither side has publicly announced the visit, with the US treading cautiously after Kim Yongchol canceled his last planned talks with Pompeo which were set for early November in New York.

But Trump has voiced optimism after receiving what he called a warm New Year's letter from DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump has repeatedly voiced eagerness to see Kim again after their landmark June summit in Singapore, the first meeting between sitting leaders from the two countries that never formally ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

A White House official, while not confirming plans for Friday's meeting, said "a lot of positive things" are happening. The official said Trump and Kim had established a "good relationship" and that US-DPRK conversations were continuing.

Tensions began to abate a year ago with the encouragement of the new government in Seoul.

Trump has repeatedly hailed his diplomacy as a triumph. He has said to expect an announcement soon about the second summit, with diplomats seeing Vietnam and Thailand as possible venues.

In Singapore, Kim promised his "unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula".

Different definitions

But the two sides appear to have different ideas on how to define that, with the US expecting the DPRK to give up nuclear weapons assembled over decades of work and Pyongyang more broadly seeking an end to what it sees as US threats.

"I think there is somewhat of a general consensus of what denuclearization means. I think there is obviously still disagreement on how to get there - whether denuclearization is the end of the process or the process itself," said Jenny Town, managing editor of the 38 North web journal on DPRK policy at the Stimson Center.

"Realistically, they can talk about it all they want to, they can define the end goal, but if you don't have a common understanding of how to get there, you're not going to reach that common goal," she said.

She noted that US officials have traditionally preferred to hash out the details of agreements before big summits, while the type of leader-driven diplomacy favored by Trump is more common in Asia.

"People have been very skeptical of this top-down approach, but we won't know unless we try it," she said.

Pompeo in a recent interview voiced hope at reaching a deal with Pyongyang that would "create a much better, safer America "but cautioned that it was unlikely to be finished during the next summit.

Afp - Ap - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 01/19/2019 page8)