Pence was set to meet with N Korean officials during the Olympics before last minute cancellation
Source: The Washington Post
Pence was set to meet with North Korean officials during the Olympics before last minute cancellation
By Ashley Parker February 20 at 6:26 PM
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Vice President Pence departed for a five-day, two country swing through Asia earlier this month having agreed to a secret meeting with North Korean officials while in South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
But on Saturday Feb. 10, less than two hours before Pence and his team were set to meet with Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, the regime’s nominal head of state, the North Koreans pulled out of the scheduled meeting, according to Pence’s office.
The North Korean decision to withdraw from the meeting came after Pence had used his trip to denounce their nuclear ambitions and announce the “toughest and most aggressive” sanctions against the regime yet, while also taking steps to further solidify the U.S. alliance with both Japan and South Korea.
It also came as Kim Jong Un, through his sister, invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang to begin talks “soon” — a development that would likely cause consternation in Washington, where the Trump administration has been leading a campaign to put “maximum pressure” on the Kim regime to give up its nuclear program. Moon said through a spokesman that he would try to make it happen.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-was-set-to-meet-with-north-korean-officials-during-the-olympics-before-last-minute-cancellation/2018/02/20/89392dfe-1684-11e8-942d-16a950029788_story.html
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