North Korea and US show signs of resuming dialogue, confirms South Korean lawmaker

North Korea and the US are showing signs of resuming dialogue, a South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday after being briefed by Seoul’s intelligence agency.

There had, however, been no confirmation of specific contacts between Pyongyang and Washington, he told a televised briefing.

“Regarding a North Korea-US summit, there was an assessment that talks could be possible at any time,” lawmaker Youn Kun-young told reporters.

US President Donald Trump said last month he ​planned to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un later this year after he ordered a major scaling back of annual military exercises between the US and South Korea. The two met three times in 2018 and ​2019.

Youn also told reporters Seoul’s national intelligence service (NIS) believed North Korea was continuing to take steps to position Kim’s daughter, known as Ju Ae, as his successor.

“The reason why she is showing up in state media frequently is she is seen as being in the process of being appointed as successor,” the lawmaker said.

The NIS assessed there was a “very low possibility” that Pyongyang would deploy additional troops to Ukraine, he said.

Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korea’s leader, ⁠has denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Pyongyang planned to send up ​to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally.

The NIS had also obtained a blueprint of a North Korean missile and an internal document on Pyongyang’s ruling party, Yoo Yeong-ha, another lawmaker, briefed by the NIS told reporters without elaborating.

Reuters