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US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
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Bolton to attend after being sidelined from North Korea issues
The roster of the US delegation attending President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un’s June 12 summit in Singapore is coming into focus. A decision has also been made to have White House National Security Advisor John Bolton attend after he was reportedly sidelined from decision-making on North Korea issues. North Korea’s corresponding lineup is expected to be revealed at the summit venue. According to reports on June 6 by Bloomberg and other foreign news outlets, the US figures attending the Singapore summit are to include Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Also tentatively included on the list were CIA Korea Mission Center chief Andrew Kim, National Security Council director for Korea and Panmunjeom working-level talks delegate Allison Hooker, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Singapore logistics talks delegate Joseph Hagin. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Defense James Mattis will reportedly be staying in Washington. Considered an ultra-hardliner on North Korea issues, Bolton drew an intense backlash from Pyongyang with his references in an interview to the “Libya model” as a solution on North Korea issues. With subsequent reports suggesting he did so deliberately to “blow up” the summit, he has found himself confined to a limited role. He was previously absent from a June 1 meeting at the White House between Trump and Workers’ Party of Korea vice chairman and United Front Department director Kim Yong-chol. But Trump appears to have been hard pressed to actually leave Bolton’s name off the delegate list. Ordering him to stay behind in Washington less than two months after he took over as National Security Advisor would have been tantamount to a call for his resignation – and potentially sent a signal of “appeasement” to North Korea. Another possibility is that Trump may use the issue of Bolton’s presence at the summit as a bargaining chip to press Pyongyang. Pompeo’s presence in Singapore is entirely expected after he raised his stature with two visits to North Korea, a New York dinner with Kim Yong-chol and his attendance at Kim’s meeting with Trump. The presence of Andrew Kim, who has established himself as a key associate, was also anticipated. Pence’s exclusion from the delegation list is likely not because of his hardline stance on North Korea issue, but rather because of the practice of avoiding having the President and Vice President traveling together overseas in case of an emergency. On the North Korean side, the most likely person to appear beside Kim Jong-un at the summit is Kim Yong-chol, who has served as Pompeo’s “partner” and delivered a letter on the North Korean leader’s behalf during a solo visit with Trump on June 1. WPK Central Committee vice chairman Ri Su-yong may be attending as head of the party’s international department, and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho as the chief official for diplomacy. State Affairs Commission chief secretary Kim Chang-son, who has been working with Hagin in Singapore to coordinate practical affairs in connection with the summit, appears likely to tend to the two leaders’ logistical and security needs outside the summit venue.
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The triangular route of the June 12 North Korea-US summit
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