Diplomacy heats up before summit, with trips by US, N. Korea

orth Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, walk after their meeting at the northern side of Panmunjom in North Korea. Photo / AP

Diplomacy has accelerated ahead of a potential summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol was believed to be heading to the United States, potentially for more talks to set up the summit, while a team of American diplomats left a hotel in South Korea and were thought to be having discussions with their North Korean counterparts. Kim Yong Chol would be the most senior North Korean official to visit the US in 18 years.

South Korean news agency Yonhap said Kim Yong Chol's name was on the passenger list for a flight today from Beijing to New York. It earlier reported that he was heading straight to Washington, but later said he changed his flight to New York.

Kim is a former military intelligence chief and now a vice-chairman of the North Korean ruling party's central committee tasked with inter-Korean relations.

A visit to the US would mark the highest-level North Korean official visit since National Defence Commission First Vice-Chairman Jo Myong Rok visited Washington in 2000, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

In South Korea, it wasn't immediately clear whether the American officials, including Sung Kim, the US ambassador to Manila, were heading to the Korean village of Panmunjom, which straddles the border inside the Demilitarised Zone, where they met with North Korean officials on Monday. Sung Kim is a former US ambassador to South Korea and was a top negotiator with North Korea in past nuclear talks.

Trump withdrew from the planned June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un on Friday, citing hostile North Korean comments, but has since said the meeting in Singapore could still happen.

South Korean President Moon Jae In, who has lobbied hard for nuclear negotiations between Trump and Kim, met with the North Korean leader in a surprise meeting on Sunday in an effort to keep the summit alive.

In their second meeting in a month, Moon said Kim expressed willingness to co-operate to end confrontation and work toward peace for the sake of a successful summit with Trump.

- AP