 |
|
US President Donald Trump talks to South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the former’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Freedom House in Panmunjom on June 30. (Blue House photo pool)
|
Blue House employees prepared for trilateral meeting without even being sure it would happen
South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a personal explanation on June 30 on the results of the recent North Korea-US summit at Panmunjom from US President Donald Trump, the Blue House said on July 1. “Before President Trump got into his personal vehicle following the North Korea-US summit, he sent away everyone but the interpreter and whispered [an explanation] to President Moon,” a senior Blue House official said in a meeting with reporters that day. “The major details were included in the dialogue,” the official added. The Blue House did not specify what the main content was. But it appears clear that some additional dialogue was exchanged beyond what Trump told the press after the summit the previous day. The administration also said it had received a separate briefing on all aspects of the North Korea-US summit through the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs line. “Yesterday [June 30] afternoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha received a detailed briefing from the US,” the official said. The Blue House explained that working-level affairs for the South Korean side in the meeting of the South and North Korean and US leaders at Panmunjom were coordinated by Yun Geon-yeong, director of the Blue House Governance Situation Room. A Blue House official said that Yun “played several roles in the process of President Trump proposing the meeting with Chairman Kim and North Korea responding to that.” “He continued working throughout the dinner between the South Korean and US leaders and on into the morning of June 30 to confirm that Chairman Kim would be coming,” the official explained. “Without final confirmation that Chairman Kim would come, Mr. Yun went to Panmunjom with the team [for working-level preparations] around 8 am to speak to the North Korean and US sides and tend to matters concerning security, protocol, and press coverage,” the official added, suggesting that the Blue House was moving frantically as late as eight hours before the three leaders’ meeting (at around 3:50 pm) without knowing for certain whether it would actually happen. The Blue House remained quiet on subsequent activities before the final trilateral meeting at Panmunjom. When asked about the role the South Korean government had played in the meeting process and about when and how it was communicated that Kim would be arriving in Panmunjom, the Blue House said it was “unable to give details at the present time.” But it did share that Moon “did not meet separately with any North Korean officials while the North Korea-US summit was taking place yesterday at Freedom House on the South Korean side [of Panmunjom].” By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
