Top NKorean official reappears after purging reportBy ASSOCIATED PRESShome/News/World/Top NKorean official reappears after purging reportSEOUL, South Korea: A senior North Korean official who had been reported as purged over the failed nuclear summit with Washington was shown in state media on Monday enjoying a concert near leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Yong Chol has been North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator and the counterpart of United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo since Kim Jong Un entered nuclear talks with the US early last year. South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo last week cited an unidentified source to report that Kim Yong Chol had been sentenced to hard labor and ideological reeducation over the failed summit in Hanoi. Kim Jong Un declared in April that the Trump administration had until the end of the year to come up with mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage the negotiations. But, while many experts believe Kim Yong Chol was pushed to a back seat in negotiations with the United States, there were doubts about the report of a purge.

Source: Manila Times June 03, 2019 16:13 UTC