[Editorial] Kim Yong-chol’s Washington visit hopefully leads to 2nd N. Korea-US summit

Workers’ Party of Korea Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol is seen coming out from the arrival area of Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, escorted by Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, on the morning of Jan. 17. (Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent)

Workers Party of Korea (WPK) Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol landed in Washington, DC, on Jan. 17, presumably to work out the details for the second North Korea-US summit. Upon his arrival, Kim was greeted at Dulles International Airport by US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun. As was the case during Kim’s visit last year, he was accompanied by Kim Song-hye, head of the Secretarial Bureau of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRK), and Choe Kang-il, deputy director general for the North Korean Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau.

It is assumed that Kim proceeded directly to a VIP area, where he and Biegun conversed for around 40 to 50 minutes. This was the first instance of a North Korean official flying directly to Washington, DC, without stopping over in other locations like New York.

The WPK vice chairman appears likely to meet with US President Donald Trump after high-level talks on Jan. 18 with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The US government remained tight-lipped to the very last about the visit by Kim’s delegation – circumspection that could be read as evidence of how much work both North Korea and the US are putting into the high-level bilateral talks.

The big topic of interest with Kim’s US visit is arguably the question of whether he and Trump will meet. The possibility appears high, judging from US press reports that Kim is scheduled to meet with Trump with a letter from leader Kim Jong-un. In the past, Pyongyang has favored a “top-down” approach of direct dealings with Trump himself as opposed to high-level and working-level talks. Precedent suggests that if Kim Yong-chol does greet Trump with a letter from Kim Jong-un, the result could well be a positive outcome. The fact that Kim Yong-chol delayed his flight back to stay a day longer also raises hopes for a meeting between him and Trump. Kim and his delegation are scheduled to board a return flight to Beijing at 3:35 pm on Jan. 19.

Another focus of attention is whether a date and venue for the second North Korea-US summit will be finalized during Kim’s visit. Some are currently speculating that Trump plans to announce the summit as early as Jan. 18, with a date sometime in March or April and the Vietnamese city of Da Nang as a venue. A final decision on the date and location would be a welcome development in itself, since it would erase some of the question marks.

If Vietnam does turn out to be the host country as predicted, that could be read as a favorable message from the US to the North Korea. Vietnam is a country that was at war with the US in the past, but has achieved rapid economic development through openness since the two sides normalized their relations – a fact that both the North Korea and US could take as a positive sign.

Beyond the question of finalizing the second summit’s date and venue, the matter of denuclearization measures from the North and corresponding measures from the US appears likely to come up at the talks during Kim’s visit. Some broad outline for the tradeoff will need to be reached, if only to allow for a final summit decision, and definite progress will need to be made for the sake of that second summit’s success. The fact that Kim’s visit is happening in the first place could be taken as a sign that both sides are opening the door to some level of compromise.

In addition to the North Korea’s proposed dismantlement of its Tongchang Village missile base and Yongbyon nuclear facilities, the US has also expressed an interest in the dismantlement of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The North is demanding regime security guarantees and the loosening of economic sanctions as corresponding measures from the US. If the two sides can produce an outline toward a generous agreement in these areas during Kim Yong-chol’s visit, the chances of a second summit being successfully held will be that much greater. Given all the difficulties in getting this meeting to happen in the first place, we look forward to both sides making concessions so that major progress can be made.

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