hankyoreh

Kim Kye-gwan

North Korea’s top negotiating official is accompanying Workers’ Party of Korea secretary Choe Ryong-hae on his trip to Russia this week, it was reported on Nov. 17.

Choe departed Pyongyang this week for a visit to Russia as a special envoy for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the AP reported in a Nov. 17 piece with a Pyongyang deadline.

Originally Choe was scheduled to arrive in Moscow at 2 pm on Nov. 17, but because of plane problems, he arrived early Tuesday morning in the Russian capital. According to a senior South Korean government official, Choe’s plane returned to Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport after taking off.

The APTN, the AP’s video service, aired footage of Choi’s departure from Pyongyang that showed him accompanied by first vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan, the country’s top negotiator, along with vice economy minister Ri Kwang-gun and deputy chief of the General Staff No Kwang-chol.

Kim’s presence drew particular notice, as he is the official who has overseen negotiations with the US on the North Korean nuclear program. Some took it as a sign that the nuclear program will be one of the major agenda item for the Russia visit.

Speaking at a press conference on Nov. 15, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov mentioned three topics for discussion during Choe’s visit, according to a report by Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency. They included the nuclear issue, and more specifically the prospects for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula; Northeast Asian regional security in a broad sense; and bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea.

Analysts took this as evidence that North Korea is pushing for nuclear talks on various fronts, and are now watching to see what comes of the visit.

Neither country has released specifics on the delegation’s itinerary for the visit, which has them in Russia until Nov. 24. But Choe’s status as special envoy for Kim Jong-un has led some to predict he may meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin to deliver a letter from the North Korean leader.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]