N. Korean vice foreign minister visits China ahead of Pompeo's Pyongyang trip: Yonhap

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 4, 2018, 16:20 Updated : October 4, 2018, 16:20

[Yonhap Photo]



SEOUL -- North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who is in charge of the North's denuclearization negotiations with the United States, visited China on Thursday, ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang this weekend.

Choe, accompanied by three or four attendants, landed at Beijing's Capital International Airport on a flight from Pyongyang at 11:35 a.m. and was greeted there by North Korean diplomats stationed in China.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Kyodo News said Choe had left Pyongyang to visit China and Russia.

Choe is expected to meet with Chinese officials to exchange views on the North's denuclearization and other pending diplomatic issues days before Pompeo's arrival in the North on Sunday, watchers say.

Choe is known as the North's counterpart to U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who will accompany Pompeo on his upcoming Pyongyang trip.

"Choe may be in Beijing to discuss the two countries' positions prior to Pompeo's visit or explain the outcome of the North's contacts with the U.S. in New York during the U.N. General Assembly," a Beijing source said.

"The North's intentions will be made clearer if Choe's movements in China are known," the source said.

Another source predicted that Choe's overseas trip won't last long, considering Sunday's North Korea visit by Pompeo and Biegun.

Meanwhile, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday after attending the U.N. General Assembly, departed for Pyongyang on Thursday afternoon.

Details of Ri's activities in Beijing have not been made public.

(YONHAP)
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