If his trip is confirmed, Kim Yong Chol would be the most senior North Korean official to meet with top officials in the United States since Jo Myong Rok, a marshal, met with then-President Bill Clinton at the White House in 2000.

A former military spy chief, Kim Yong Chol has been a central player in the recent thaw in relations between North Korea and South Korea, as well as the United States.

Kim joined Kim Jong Un in both of his two meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April and May, and hosted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when his visited Pyongyang most recently early this month.

The United States and South Korea blacklisted Kim Yong Chol for supporting the North's nuclear and missile programs in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

Due to sanctions against him, Kim Yong Chol is banned from visiting the United States normally. Any visit to the United States would indicate a waiver was granted.

During his tenure as a senior intelligence official, Kim was accused by South Korea of masterminding deadly attacks on a South Korean navy ship and an island in 2010, and was linked by U.S intelligence to a cyberattack on Sony Pictures in 2014. North Korea denied any involvement in the attack on the ship and on Sony Pictures.

DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS

In a flurry of diplomacy over the weekend, Kim Jong Un and South Korea's Moon held a surprise meeting on Saturday at the border village of Panmunjom, during which they agreed the North Korea-U.S. summit must be held.

And on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said American and North Korean officials had met at Panmunjom. Sung Kim, the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and current ambassador to the Philippines, led that American delegation, an American official told Reuters.





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