The European country has long-standing ties with the reclusive Asian nation. Its diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, which opened in 1975, was the first Western embassy established in the country
North Korea’s foreign minister held talks in Stockholm with Swedish leader Stefan Lofven on Friday amid reports Sweden could play a role in setting up a proposed summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
“They had a meeting. We will not disclose what they talked about,” said Lofven’s spokesman Jonatan Holst.
Ri Yong-ho arrived in the Swedish capital on Thursday evening with Choe Kang-il, deputy director general of the foreign ministry’s North America section.
Ri held talks late on Thursday with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom, discussions that according to Swedish officials were to focus on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and a possible Trump-Kim summit. The talks were to continue on Friday.
“Right now, dialogue is needed and we are happy to have this meeting. But we’re not naive, we don’t think we can solve the world’s problems. It is up the parties to decide how to move forward,” Wallstrom told Swedish media in parliament on Friday.
“If we can use our contacts in the best way, we will do so,” she said, noting the situation on the Korean peninsula was “of interest to us all” in terms of security.
Some Swedish and foreign media have said that Ri – who was stationed at North Korea’s embassy in Stockholm in 1985-1988 – will stay in the Scandinavian country until Sunday for other talks, though Swedish officials would not confirm those reports.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of a contact between the North and the US” during Ri’s visit, a Beijing source told South Korea’s Yonhap agency.
