Asia Pacific
22:35, 18-Feb-2019
U.S., DPRK to discuss exchanging liaison officers
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The U.S. and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are seriously considering exchanging liaison officers, a commitment reached in the Singapore summit, according to CNN, citing two sources with knowledge of the discussions.
The discussions come several days ahead of President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un's second summit which is slated for February 27-28 in Vietnam.
The exchange of liaison officers is believed to be the first step, according to the source. The U.S. will set up liaison office in the DPRK and send a senior foreign officer who speaks Korean to run the office, if everything goes on smoothly, said the source.
The commitment of exchanging liaison officers was made during Trump and Kim's first meeting in Singapore on June 12, 2018. They signed a joint statement, which committed to "establishing new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity."
The DPRK has previously launched a joint liaison office with the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong. The move is expected to foster cross-border exchanges and ease tension.
(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) posing with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic U.S.-DPRK summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo)