A delegation led by senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol could arrive in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, a diplomatic source told NK News, in order to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The high-profile trip – reported first by CNN – is thought to be taking place in order to solidify preparations for a second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, widely anticipated to be taking place in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi sometime in February or March.
A Chinese airport official indicated that Kim Yong Chol would be joined by two other DPRK officials on a flight on Thursday from Beijing to Washington on United Airlines, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Neither the U.S. or DPRK has yet to officially confirm the visit, however.
Kim Yong Chol’s trip comes as North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui was seen on Tuesday traveling from Beijing for an “international conference” in Stockholm, which is thought could also be attended by U.S. officials.
It would, however, be rare for the U.S. to engage North Korean officials simultaneously in two locations, raising the possibility that Choe could fly from Stockholm to join the North Korean delegation in Washington, D.C.
U.S. officials have grown frustrated in recent months at the lack of access granted to Stephen Biegun, its new Special Envoy for North Korea, meaning there could be an impetus for Washington to include Choe’s participation in Washington meetings in some way, the diplomatic source said.
Choe is Biegun’s opposite number but has played a highly limited role in recent diplomacy between the U.S. and DPRK.
As a result, the much-desired working-level meetings sought by the U.S. have failed to take off, with Biegun conducting only one visit to the DPRK so far: a short lunch meeting with Pompeo and Kim Jong Un last October.
But coming after Kim Jong Un’s recent visit to Beijing, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hopes that “the DPRK and the United States will meet each other halfway,” optimism has been growing that the current impasse in nuclear negotiations may soon be broken.
And notably, Kim Yong Chol’s trip also comes after CNN reported that a letter from President Trump had been delivered to Kim Jong Un over the past weekend, following Trump’s promotion of a letter he received from Kim earlier this month.
“If the meeting does happen, it shows that the two sides are within spitting distance of a summit and need to clarify the deliverables,” said Christopher Green, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
“But there is plenty still to disagree about — as last year’s canceled meetings showed — and the U.S. side is aware of criticism leveled at it for the vagueness of the Singapore joint declaration,” he continued. “They will want to ensure that this summit brings concrete results.”
And for the North Korean side, Green said the “the keys are sanctions relief and an end-of-war declaration — precisely what Kim Jong Un talked about in his January 1 address.”
It is yet unclear whether Kim Yong Chol will only meet his counterpart Pompeo or Trump, too.
Kim Yong Chol met Trump during a visit to the White House in June last year.
Kim Yong Chol is currently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, meaning some form of exemption will need to be provided to United Airlines should he travel on that airline, and for him to enter the U.S.