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US President Donald Trump meets with Kim Yong-chol

North Korea and the US are reportedly planning to hold working-level talks at Panmunjom around Feb. 4 in order to deliberate the details of the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, which is planned for the end of February. Reports indicate that the US has proposed holding the summit in Vietnam, but North Korea hasn’t yet made an official response.

On Jan. 29, US political website Politico quoted a well-informed anonymous source as saying that US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will apparently be meeting his counterparts at Panmunjom on Feb. 4. Multiple sources in South Korea confirmed that the US has proposed holding working-level talks at Panmunjom on Feb. 4. While North Korea hasn’t made its final response, these sources predicted that the talks would be held around that date, barring any major developments.

If the talks at Panmunjom become a reality, North Korea is likely to send Kim Hyok-chol, North Korea’s former ambassador to Spain, who has been assigned to be Biegun’s new counterpart in the talks. Kim Hyok-chol had his first working-level meeting with Biegun when he visited Washington, DC, on Jan. 18 with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and director of the WPK United Front Department, but the two reportedly didn’t get into the details. The upcoming meeting between Kim Hyok-chol and Biegun is expected to provide their first chance to thoroughly discuss the second North Korea-US summit.

If the working-level negotiations are held about a month before the end of February, when North Korea and the US have agreed to hold their summit, the date and location of the talks are likely to be finalized and other practical matters, including protocol and security, are likely to be discussed as well. Given harsh criticism inside the US that Trump and Kim only reached a superficial agreement during their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, this time around they’re expected to find concrete ways to implement the joint declaration they agreed to during their Singapore summit. According to multiple sources who are familiar with North Korea-US negotiations, the two countries have yet to narrow their differences of opinion. It won’t be easy to create a roadmap including a comprehensive plan for denuclearization and the normalization of relations in the space of a month.

As a consequence, the two sides are expected to use the working-level talks to move forward with an in-depth discussion of the items they’re willing to trade during the initial stage of denuclearization and relations normalization. Foreign affairs experts believe that some of the corresponding measures that the US could offer in exchange for North Korea taking additional steps toward denuclearization, such as freezing its Yongbyon nuclear facility, include the establishment of a liaison office in Pyongyang, an end-of-war declaration, humanitarian aid and the adjustment of South Korea-US joint military exercises, all while leaving sanctions on North Korea intact.

Since the regular working-level talks haven’t yet begun, this meeting may offer a clue about how much the two sides are willing to put on the table. Attention is also turning to a speech that Biegun is scheduled to deliver at Stanford University’s Walter Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center on Jan. 31 and to the tenor of the discussion following the speech.

In regard to the site of the second summit, Politico reported that “the Trump administration has floated Vietnam as a potential venue for the gathering, but the North Koreans so far have not agreed to that.” With Da Nang and Hanoi being mentioned as potential sites for the talks, Politico added that Hanoi, as Vietnam’s capital, is a strong contender if Kim pays an official visit to Vietnam to attend the North Korea-US summit.

Trump took to Twitter on Jan. 30 to express his hopes about his second summit with Kim: “Time will tell what will happen with North Korea, but at the end of the previous administration, relationship was horrendous and very bad things were about to happen. Now a whole different story. I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un shortly.”

“North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with U.S. No testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of Denuclearization,” Trump wrote in a different tweet.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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