South Korean intelligence considers a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un possible
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service considers a future meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un possible. At the same time, the agency cannot confirm the existence of direct contacts between Washington and Pyongyang, Korea Herald reports.
Intelligence assessment
Lawmaker Yoon Kun-young, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, reported on the National Intelligence Service’s assessment. According to him, the United States and North Korea may resume dialogue at any moment in the future, but there is currently no confirmation of direct communication between the sides.
This assessment came after Trump expressed readiness to meet with Kim Jong Un before the end of the year and scaled back the annual joint US-South Korean military exercises. North Korea has largely not responded to these steps.
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Negotiations and succession
Trump and Kim Jong Un have officially met three times. These meetings included two bilateral summits — in June 2018 and February 2019.
According to Yoon, Seoul has not yet contacted Pyongyang regarding its proposal to hold multilateral talks involving the two Koreas. In an address on Liberation Day in August, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung described negotiations among the parties involved as a way to end the war on the Korean Peninsula and prevent the further development of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
Separately, according to intelligence, North Korea is effectively in the process of putting forward the North Korean leader’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as Kim Jong Un’s successor. The country’s authorities are also shaping her image as the new leader of the North Korean people, Yoon said.
