Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed interest in traveling to North Korea to meet Kim Jong Un, North Korean media reported Sunday, adding another layer of possible intrigue onto the planning for next week’s summit between President Trump and the North Korean leader. The KCNA report said Assad made the comments about a possible trip to North Korea last Tuesday while receiving the credentials of the North Korean ambassador. The Trump administration hopes the Singapore summit will bring pledges from Kim to begin rolling back the country’s nuclear program. Syria and North Korea have maintained close relations for decades. A Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in 2007 was believed to have been built partly on North Korean designs.

Source: Washington Post June 03, 2018 11:26 UTC