Special assistant to Rev. Franklin Graham, a religious leader with ties to both families of U.S. President George W. Bush and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, is visiting North Korea, the communist nation's state-run media said.
"Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun met and conversed with Melvin L. Cheatham, special assistant to Rev. Franklin Graham, a religious leader from the U.S., and his party at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Thursday," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
It was the special assistant's second trip to the North following his initial visit there last August.
No further information on the purpose or the date of his arrival was available.
The Graham family's relationship with the reclusive North's leader dates back to April 1992 when Rev. Billy Graham, the father of Franklin Graham and a renowned U.S. Protestant Christian evangelist, visited North Korea at the invitation of the founder of the communist country, Kim Il-sung.
Rev. Billy Graham delivered a verbal message from President George Bush who expressed his support for the normalization of the two nations' relationship. He reportedly won goodwill from the North's leader. He made his second visit to the North in 1994. His son Franklin Graham also traveled to North Korea twice in 2000 and 2002.
Currently, Franklin Graham is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Seoul, Aug. 17 (Yonhap News)
Special assistant to Rev. Franklin Graham visits N. Korea |
