U.S. officials hold summit preparation talks despite uncertainty surrounding Trump-Kim meeting

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post




By Anna Fifield
May 27 at 11:01 AM

SEOUL — A team of U.S. officials crossed into North Korea on Sunday for talks to prepare for a summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, as both sides press ahead with arrangements despite the question marks hanging over the meeting.

Sung Kim, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator with the North, has been called in from his posting as envoy to the Philippines to lead the preparations, according to a person familiar with the arrangements.

He crossed the line that separates the two Koreas to meet with Choe Son Hui, the North Korean vice foreign minister, who said last week that Pyongyang was “reconsidering” the talks. Kim and Choe know each other well — both were part of their respective delegations that negotiated the 2005 denuclearization agreement through the six-party framework.

Kim is also joined by Allison Hooker, the Korea specialist on the National Security Council, and an official from the Defense Department. Randall Schriver, the assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and one of the officials who accompanied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang earlier this month, also is in Seoul at the moment. However, it could not be immediately confirmed whether he was the Pentagon official involved in Sunday’s talks.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-officials-hold-summit-preparation-talks-despite-uncertainty-surrounding-meeting/2018/05/27/870c8196-61ae-11e8-b166-fea8410bcded_story.html

[Nitram]

1. People, there's a train wreck a'comin'.