A senior US diplomat is to travel to Pyongyang to prepare for Donald Trump’s second summit with Kim Jong-un, and is expected to announce the date and location of the much-anticipated meeting.
US special envoy Stephen Biegun arrived in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday night for a meeting with that country’s senior diplomat, Lee Do-hoon.
On Wednesday, he will be in Pyongyang for a meeting his North Korean counterpart, Kim Hyok Chol, the state department said.
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Last week, Mr Biegun said he hoped the negotiations would help map out “a set of concrete deliverables” for the second summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim, after the US leader claimed there was a “good chance” of reaching a deal with on denuclearisation.
“We expect to hold working-level negotiations with our North Korean counterparts in advance of the summit, with the intention of achieving a set of concrete deliverables….a roadmap of negotiations and declarations going forward, and a shared understanding of the desired outcomes of our joint efforts,” Mr Biegun said at an event at Stanford University in California.
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In the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, portraits of former supreme leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are required by law to be hung in the home, the classroom, the factory and all manner of other private and public places
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On board the ship
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At the ballot box
Mannen av börd
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In the office
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On the bridegroom
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On the Pyongyang subway
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On a government building
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In the teacher training facility
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In Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang
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In the home
AFP/Getty
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At the military parade
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In the hall
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At the Chinese border
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In the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, portraits of former supreme leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are required by law to be hung in the home, the classroom, the factory and all manner of other private and public places
Reuters
2/16
In the classroom
AFP/Getty
3/16
In the living room
AFP/Getty
4/16
In the maternity ward of the hospital
Alamy
5/16
On board the ship
Reuters
6/16
At the ballot box
Mannen av börd
7/16
In the office
AFP/Getty
8/16
On the bridegroom
Reuters
9/16
On the Pyongyang subway
Reuters
10/16
On a government building
Reuters
11/16
In the teacher training facility
AFP/Getty
12/16
In Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang
Reuters
13/16
In the home
AFP/Getty
14/16
At the military parade
Reuters
15/16
In the hall
Reuters
16/16
At the Chinese border
AFP/Getty
“We have communicated to our North Korean counterparts that we are prepared to pursue, simultaneously and in parallel, all of the commitments our two leaders made in their joint statement at Singapore last summer.”
Mr Trump told reporters last week a time and place has been chosen for his second summit with Mr Kim, following their historic encounter last June in Singapore.
“We’ll be announcing it early next week,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “They very much want the meeting, and they really want to do something.”
The AFP said it was likely the time and place would be make public after Mr Biegun completed his discussions on Wednesday.
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