Seoul 007s: US-North Korea summit meeting soon
The North Korean leader has never ruled out the possibility of a new meeting with Trump, but has always made it a condition that his country's nuclear programme should not be the subject of negotiations
From our correspondent
NEW DELHI - South Korea's intelligence services are convinced that there is a good chance of a meeting between the leadership of North Korea and the United States. The rumour circulated Wednesday at the end of a parliamentary hearing of representatives of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul. The summit could be held after March, once the joint exercises between the US and South Korean armed forces are over and after the Workers' Party of Korea congress and military parade scheduled to take place in the North early next year.
During the closed-door meeting in Parliament, the NIS leadership explained that Pyongyang would start collecting intelligence information on US officials in charge of establishing a high-level diplomatic channel with the North. The signs of openness come after attempts in recent weeks to arrange a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the sidelines of the Gyeongju Apec summit in South Korea came to nothing.
According to reports in Seoul, North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui was reportedly considering postponing a planned visit to Russia in those same days. Since in the event of a summit between Kim and Trump his presence would have been indispensable, this was interpreted as a sign that the possibility of a summit with the US president was seriously considered before being shelved.
The North Korean leader has never ruled out the possibility of a new meeting with Trump, but has always made it a condition that his country's nuclear programme should not be the subject of negotiations. In this regard, the Yonhap news agency reported yesterday that according to the South's services, if he decided to do so, Kim could soon order a new nuclear test, the first since 2017. Denuclearisation of the North is one of the main diplomatic goals of both Seoul and Washington. Also on Wednesday, a draft of the trade agreement between South Korea and the United States circulated, citing investments of $25 billion by 2030 in US weapons. The purchases would cover fighter jets, helicopters, anti-ballistic missiles and radar aircraft, among other things.
