High-ranking diplomats from the United States and North Korea are currently holding talks in Sweden aiming to end the stand-off between the two countries, a diplomatic source said on Friday.
“After the meeting in Singapore things have ground to a halt. The purpose of this meeting is to inject some energy and to take steps forward in the relations between U.S. and North Korea,” the source said.
The source said the delegations included North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Son Hui and Stephen Biegun, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea. The meeting, which started on Thursday and will continue over the weekend, has been planned in secret for months.
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Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, Cabinet Secretary Annika Soder and Sweden’s envoy to Korea, Kent Harstedt, are also sitting in on the talks, the source said.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met in Singapore in June last year for talks aimed at finding a way to end a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump defended the stuttering progress on North Korea by saying that Pyongyang had stopped missile and bomb testing and if it had not been for his administration ”you’d be having a nice, big, fat war in Asia.”
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Meanwhile, North Korea’s lead negotiator in nuclear diplomacy is due to hold talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington and could also meet Mr. Trump on Friday during a visit aimed at clearing the way for a second U.S.-North Korea summit. Mr. Trump has spoken many times of having a second summit with Mr. Kim early this year.