Kim Jong Un is willing to talk with U.S. President Donald Trump about giving up his nuclear weapons, China said, after the North Korean leader made a surprise visit to Beijing to patch up ties with his neighbor.Kim expressed an openness to U.S. talks during meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday, in what was his first foreign trip since taking power in 2011. North Korean state media reports also confirmed Kim’s visit -- and his return to Pyongyang -- without mentioning denuclearization or the potential Trump summit.“North Korea sees an opportunity with these summits to message to the world that it’s not isolated and that it has diplomatic options,” Mintaro Oba, a former U.S. State Department official who worked on North Korean issues, said by email. “The Kim-Xi summit is the latest step in that game.”Kim’s clandestine visit -- Chinese officials refused for two days to confirm reports of his … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Un Is Willing to Hold Summit With U.S., China Says
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Speculation of Kim Jong-un visit to China
The arrival of a special train in Beijing and unusually heavy security at a guesthouse where prominent North Koreans have stayed in the past have raised speculation that Kim Jong-un is making his first trip to China as the North's leader.Kim has summits planned with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in late April and with US President Donald Trump by May. While there has been no word of a similar meeting with Chinese leaders, China has been one of North Korea's most important allies even though relations have recently chilled because of Kim's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.A vehicle convoy entered the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Monday evening and a military honour guard and heavy security were seen later. That followed reports from Japanese network NTV and public broadcaster NHK of a special North Korean train arriving in Beijing under unusually heavy security.A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said she was not aware of the situation … [Read more...] about Speculation of Kim Jong-un visit to China
Kim Jong Un Is Making a Surprise China Visit, Sources Say
Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Beijing on his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011, three people with knowledge of the visit said.Further details of his trip, including how long Kim would stay and who he would meet, were not immediately available. The people asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information.Speculation about a possible visit by a high-ranking North Korean official circulated around the Chinese capital Monday, after Japan’s Kyodo News reported that a special train may have carried Kim through the northeastern border city of Dandong. Nippon TV showed footage of a train arriving Monday in Beijing that looked similar to one used by Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, to visit the country shortly before his death in 2011.The unannounced visit is the latest in series of diplomatic power plays in Asia as U.S. President Donald Trump’s battle to lower the U.S. trade deficit becomes entangled with his effort to get … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Un Is Making a Surprise China Visit, Sources Say
Kim Jong Un and John Bolton Learned Very Different Lessons From Libya
The last remnants of Libya’s nuclear program were loaded onto an aircraft in 2009 and shipped out of the country, part of a U.S.-brokered deal with dictator Muammar Qaddafi to disarm in return for sanctions relief. Two years later, NATO-backed rebels brutally killed him.The episode is still fresh in the minds of both North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and John Bolton, the new U.S. national security adviser. But the lessons they learned are very different, and that threatens to doom any talks between Kim and President Donald Trump.On March 19, Bolton told Radio Free Asia that he hopes Trump will follow the Libya model in demanding that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, and that it could be a “very short meeting” if Kim refuses. But the North Korean leader has regularly cited Libya as an example of why he needs nuclear weapons -- to deter a U.S. invasion.“It is such an implausible demand of North Korea that you set yourself up for failure,” Lindsey Ford, … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Un and John Bolton Learned Very Different Lessons From Libya
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Visiting China, Sources Say
Kim Jong Un has made a surprise visit to Beijing on his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011, three people with knowledge of the visit said.Further details of the visit, including how long Kim would stay and who he would meet, were not immediately available. The people asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information.Developing... … [Read more...] about North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Visiting China, Sources Say