North Korea's top diplomat is in Sweden for talks,... promoting speculation his two-day trip could lay the groundwork for the upcoming summit between the regime's leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Lee Seung-jae reports.

North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho landed at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport on Thursday... to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula with his Swedish counterpart.
Although no further details have been released about direct contact between Pyongyang's top diplomat and officials from the U.S.,... Ri's overseas trip has raised speculation he is laying the groundwork for the planned U.S.-North Korea summit in May.
And with Sweden being mentioned as a potential location for the face-to-face between Kim and Trump,... as the European country is not a member of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance,... watchers are keeping an extra close eye on Ri's trip.

"Since the North Korea-U.S. summit is scheduled for May there is not enough time to fine tune details. They're going to Sweden to undergo contacts with the U.S. for possible working level talks."

The North is yet to respond to the proposal of holding the summit in May.
Washington has long insisted that it will not allow Pyongyang to continue building and testing a nuclear arsenal. Meanwhile, the North Korean regime keeps boasting that it is now capable of delivering thermonuclear warheads to U.S. cities.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea which has limited the options for the two sides to hold talks reduce tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.