North Korea’s Choe Son Hui holds talks with U.S. diplomat Sung Kim in Singapore ahead of the Kim-Trump summit in June 2018 | Image: U.S. Department of State
North Korea’s appointment of longtime diplomat Choe Son Hui as foreign minister could signal a break in Pyongyang’s policies toward the U.S. and South Korea, a former top U.S. official told NK News on Saturday.
Stephen Biegun, deputy secretary of state and special representative for North Korea under U.S. President Trump, said the selection of Choe to replace Ri Son Gwon — who will now oversee inter-Korean affairs — likely concludes Pyongyang’s short-lived approach of engaging the two allies at the same time.
“For the DPRK this is a return to
North Korea’s appointment of longtime diplomat Choe Son Hui as foreign minister could signal a break in Pyongyang’s policies toward the U.S. and South Korea, a former top U.S. official told NK News on Saturday.
Stephen Biegun, deputy secretary of state and special representative for North Korea under U.S. President Trump, said the selection of Choe to replace Ri Son Gwon — who will now oversee inter-Korean affairs — likely concludes Pyongyang’s short-lived approach of engaging the two allies at the same time.
Jeongmin Kim is a Lead Correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean and DPRK-related foreign, defense and humanitarian affairs, and has covered the 2022 ROK Presidential election on the ground. Prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency's Seoul bureau. Follow her on Twitter @jeongminnkim