Chief of CIA’s Korea Mission Center makes unannounced visit to S. Korea

Posted on : 2018-11-19 17:30 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Andrew Kim met with undisclosed list of N. Korean officials at Panmunjom
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol

There’s a flurry of activity by the key officials in the North Korea-US denuclearization negotiations. After the cancellation of high-level talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s Workers’ Party (WPK) and director of its United Front Department, that had been scheduled for the beginning of this month, some think those talks will soon be held to pave the way for holding the second North Korea-US summit in early 2019.

Andrew Kim, chief of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center (KMC), reportedly paid an unannounced visit to South Korea from Nov. 14 to 17 and made contact with North Korean officials at Panmunjom during his trip. Kim reportedly also met with a wide range of officials from the South Korean government, including NIS agents. A close associate of Pompeo, Kim has not only accompanied Pompeo on his four trips to North Korea but was also deeply involved in preparations for the North Korea-US Singapore summit on June 12. Kim is one of the people in the Trump administration who is responsible for behind-the-scenes coordination with North Korea.

The identity of the North Korean officials who met with Kim in Panmunjom have not been confirmed. On Nov. 18, a source familiar with North Korea-US relations downplayed the significance of Kim’s visit. “There’s nothing unprecedented or unusual about Andrew Kim paying an undisclosed visit to South Korea considering that he has previously visited the North when necessary,” the source said.

But the visit does raise eyebrows, coming as it does during a tug-of-war between North Korea and the US over the high-level talks aimed at preparing for the second summit between the two countries’ leaders. There are some who link Kim’s meeting in Panmunjom with the removal of Kim Song-hye, head of the United Front Department’s tactical office, from the North Korean delegation visiting Gyeonggi Province from Nov. 14 to 17, ostensibly because of the flu. The North Koreans were attending an international forum on peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region that was jointly hosted by Gyeonggi Province and the Asia-Pacific Exchange Association.

It’s even conceivable that the high-level talks could be held this month. “The US position is that the high-level talks can be held whenever North Korea is ready,” said a diplomatic source in Washington, DC. But since the US will be holding a five-day holiday for Thanksgiving on Nov. 21 and since Pompeo is scheduled to travel to Argentina to accompany Trump to the G20 summit at the end of November, the view that the talks will be held in December is more credible.

From Nov. 19 to 21, Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, will be meeting with US officials including Stephen Biegun, the State Department’s special representative for North Korea policy, to discuss the North Korea-US negotiations and ways for South Korea and the US to cooperate.

South Korea, North Korea and the US seem to be busily laying the groundwork for pulling off the second North Korea-US summit in Jan. 2019.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent, and Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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