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North Korean security personnel arrive at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi ahead of the second North Korea-US summit on Feb. 24. (Reuters)
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N. Korean security personnel arrive at Noi Bai International Airport
As North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s personal high-security train embarked for Vietnam, which is hosting the second North Korea-US summit, on Feb. 23, the eyes of the world are turning to Hanoi, which will be the site of an event that many expect to be a turning point in the history of the Korean Peninsula. The delegations from North Korea and the US that have spent the past three days discussing the agenda of the second summit continued their talks on Feb. 24. At 2:20 pm, North Korean State Affairs Commission Special Representative for US Affairs Kim Hyok-chol left the Vietnamese government’s State Guest House, where he is staying, and headed to Hanoi Central Park Hotel, where US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is staying. Kim was accompanied by Workers’ Party of Korea United Front Department Office Director Kim Song-hye and Foreign Ministry North American Affairs Bureau Acting Director General Choe Kang-il. Since Feb. 21, the two delegations have been carrying out marathon negotiations for up to 10 hours each day. On Feb. 23, there was a considerable shift in the previously tense mood. In contrast with previous days, the two sides wrapped up their morning meeting briefly, in a little over an hour. After that, Biegun came out of the hotel and gave reporters a thumbs-up. This unconventional gesture was taken to mean that the working-level negotiations are going smoothly. Kim and Trump’s private car arrives in Hanoi Separately from the negotiations about the agenda, the technical preparations for protocol and other matters have also been moving forward quickly in Hanoi. At 9:20 am on Feb. 24, around 100 of Kim Jong-un’s security personnel arrived at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport in an IL-76 jet operated by Air Koryo. This same airline also made an appearance when Kim Jong-un visited Dalian, China, on May 7-8, 2018, and during his first North Korea-US summit on June 12, 2018, in Singapore. Footage shot by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV of the plane’s arrival shows the words “Air Koryo” on the front of the fuselage and the North Korean flag and the flight number “P-914” on the plane’s tail. North Korean government authorities said that the plane was carrying an advance party of one hundred people. At 10:20 am, an hour later, two black automobiles without license plates and a mid-sized bus and black truck carrying North Korean officials left the airport under the protection of Vietnamese police vehicles. These vehicles relocated to the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, which is regarded as the most likely candidate for Kim Jong-un’s accommodations. On Feb. 23, US President Donald Trump’s private car, called “The Beast,” was spotted entering the parking lot of the JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, which has been mentioned as a likely place for Trump to stay. Armed Vietnamese police have been keeping a close watch on the area around the two hotels. Location of summit likely to be Sofitel Legend Metropole The question that’s still unanswered is where the second summit will take place. Though neither North Korea nor the US has made an official announcement, sources on the ground suggest that the likely location is the Sofitel Legend Metropole, which has been visited several times by North Korean State Affairs Commission Secretariat Director Kim Chang-son, who is regarded as Kim Jong-un’s de facto chief of staff. Since arriving in Hanoi on Feb. 16, Kim Chang-son has visited a number of places, including the Hanoi Opera House, which has previously hosted diplomatic events for the Vietnamese government; the Vietnamese government’s State Guest House; and Bac Giang, a city located 60km northeast of Hanoi with a cemetery where 14 North Korean soldiers who died during the Vietnam War were laid to rest. The international press has spotlighted Dang Dong railway station, the first station that Kim will pass after crossing the Chinese border into Vietnam, and the area around the North Korean embassy in Hanoi. Dang Dong station is undergoing hurried renovations, in apparent anticipation of the arrival of an important personage, and employees are regularly coming out of the North Korean embassy to polish a sign in front of the gate that displays a photograph of Kim Jong-un. The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on Facebook and Twitter on Feb. 23 that Kim Jong-un would be paying an “official friendly visit” to Vietnam in the next few days on the invitation of President Nguyen Phu Trong, secretary general of the Communist Party of Vietnam. An official visit is a type of summit diplomacy that’s less formal than a state visit but more formal than a working visit. Considering that the Vietnamese government added the word “friendly” to his formal visit, it’s expected to give Kim the privileges typically reserved for a state visit. By Kim Ji-eun and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
