Seoul (AFP) — The hawkish North Korean general on his way to New York for pre-summit talks is a skillful politician who has thrived through…
Seoul (AFP) — The hawkish North Korean general on his way to New York for pre-summit talks is a skillful politician who has thrived through three generations of the ruling Kim family.
Kim Yong Chol, described as Kim Jong Un’s right-hand man, left Beijing on Wednesday bound for the North’s «imperialist enemy» where he will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and possibly Donald Trump.
The man blamed by South Korea for the 2010 sinking of a warship that killed 46 sailors will become the most senior North Korean to step on US soil in nearly two decades.
The meeting is the latest in a flurry of diplomacy as the two sides lay the groundwork for a historic first summit, planned for June 12.
The four-star general, who is believed to be in his 70s, has been at the forefront of Pyongyang’s emergence from global isolation this year.
He attended the closing ceremony of the South’s Winter Olympics in February, sitting just feet (centimetres) from Ivanka Trump.
He was by Kim’s side when the young North Korean leader met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April, and again for the leaders’ surprise second summit on May 26.
But the march to become Kim Jong Un’s most trusted general has been a long one requiring intellectual heft, nimble footwork and a willingness to take extreme measures.
— Purge —
Kim Yong Chol first donned the uniform of the Korean People’s Army in the 1960s, when he was assigned to guard the heavily-fortified border that bisects the peninsula.
