U.S., North Korea hold new prep talks for historic summit

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Working-level officials of the United States and North Korea met again at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom on Wednesday to discuss the agenda for the historic summit between the leaders of the two countries next week, Kazinform has learned from Yonhap.

Sung Kim, U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and former nuclear envoy, and Pyongyang's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui began the talks at a North Korean building in the village at 10 a.m., according to Seoul officials well-versed on the matter.

The two sides are expected to fine-tune the agenda ahead of the June 12 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, which will focus on the North's denuclearization and Washington's security guarantee.

The officials had five rounds of talks to prepare for the summit starting on May 27 at the same venue.

Meanwhile, Kim Chang-son, known as the de-facto chief of staff to leader Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday. He led a team of North Korean officials in talks in Singapore with the U.S. delegation headed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin to discuss logistics ahead of the summit.

Kim flew to Beijing Capital International Airport aboard a Singaporean flight and left the airport through a VIP lounge.

Japan's Kyodo News reported that he may return to Pyongyang to report the result of the working-level negotiations to Kim Jong-un.

The report said general preparations for the summit may have come to an end as Kim Chang-son is no longer in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Singapore's foreign minister will visit Pyongyang from Thursday to Friday, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

The statement said Vivian Balakrishnan will make an official visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho.