Working-level officials to get into fine-tuning details of the summit
- 5 years ago
北美 '막바지 실무협상' 개시할 것으로 보여
Working-level officials from the two sides are using these last hours to fine-tune the details of what leaders Kim and Trump will be talking about and what'll be in their agreement.
Our reporters Lee Ji-won and Park Hee-jun are in Hanoi and they've been following all those preparation for us.
Good to see you both.
So let's start with Ji-won.
Ji-won, we understand that there were no working-level talks this morning as there weren't yesterday.
Devin. Yes. Like you said, the officials did not hold their talks this morning... but there was activity of some kind on both sides.
U.S. Special representative for North Korea affairs, Stephen Biegun, was seen leaving his hotel at around 10 a.m., local time.
But we're not sure where he went and he hasn't come back yet.
And about an hour and a half later, North Korea's protocol chief, Kim Chang-son, and Park Chol, Vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, were seen leaving the State Guest House.
They came back about an hour later,... but we don't know where they went either.
North's top negotiator Kim Hyok-chol is believed to be in the State Guest House.
Now, the officials had also skipped yesterday's morning session,... and only met in the afternoon... so there's a possibility that the talks could resume sometime later.
Meanwhile, with just days left until the summit,... the officials are expected to have started drawing up the Hanoi Joint Declaration that will be released after the summit.
They have been meeting everyday since last Thursday,... but for shorter and shorter times --- from over 7 hours on Friday to just 2 and a half hours on Sunday.
So we're guessing they are headed in the same direction,... and narrowing their differences.
The main points of contention are understood to include Pyeongyang's dismantlement of its nuclear facility at Yeongbyeon, a declaration to end the Korean War, and allowing inter-Korean economic exchanges.
Back to you Devin.
Working-level officials from the two sides are using these last hours to fine-tune the details of what leaders Kim and Trump will be talking about and what'll be in their agreement.
Our reporters Lee Ji-won and Park Hee-jun are in Hanoi and they've been following all those preparation for us.
Good to see you both.
So let's start with Ji-won.
Ji-won, we understand that there were no working-level talks this morning as there weren't yesterday.
Devin. Yes. Like you said, the officials did not hold their talks this morning... but there was activity of some kind on both sides.
U.S. Special representative for North Korea affairs, Stephen Biegun, was seen leaving his hotel at around 10 a.m., local time.
But we're not sure where he went and he hasn't come back yet.
And about an hour and a half later, North Korea's protocol chief, Kim Chang-son, and Park Chol, Vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, were seen leaving the State Guest House.
They came back about an hour later,... but we don't know where they went either.
North's top negotiator Kim Hyok-chol is believed to be in the State Guest House.
Now, the officials had also skipped yesterday's morning session,... and only met in the afternoon... so there's a possibility that the talks could resume sometime later.
Meanwhile, with just days left until the summit,... the officials are expected to have started drawing up the Hanoi Joint Declaration that will be released after the summit.
They have been meeting everyday since last Thursday,... but for shorter and shorter times --- from over 7 hours on Friday to just 2 and a half hours on Sunday.
So we're guessing they are headed in the same direction,... and narrowing their differences.
The main points of contention are understood to include Pyeongyang's dismantlement of its nuclear facility at Yeongbyeon, a declaration to end the Korean War, and allowing inter-Korean economic exchanges.
Back to you Devin.