Sweden’s U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog said Friday his country is trying to help de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula by hosting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, a visit some global observers believe could help pave the way for a meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea.
“The security situation on the peninsula is one of the most pressing issues on the world agenda right now, and if Sweden can play a part in de-escalation there, this is what we’re trying to do,” Skoog told reporters in Geneva.
Minister Ri and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven met briefly Friday in Stockholm, but Skoog and Lofven’s spokesman would not disclose what the two leaders discussed.
Skoog added, however, the talks in Stockholm would “hopefully” help “create a good environment for such a meeting” and declined to comment when asked if Sweden would host it.
“We just want to be helpful in pursuing a de-escalation on the peninsula,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to meet by the end of May with Kim Jong Un to negotiate Pyongyang’s nuclear program. North Korea, however, has not officially confirmed the meeting and no specific time or venue has been set.
Some reports have speculated the Scandinavian country is laying the groundwork for an expected meeting between U.S. and North Korean leaders. Others have suggested that Sweden, which represents U.S. interests through its embassy in Pyongyang, may be involved in talks regarding three American citizens being held by the North.
The upcoming summit is also being discussed Friday in Washington by the top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the U.S. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who is serving as Acting Secretary of State after Rex Tillerson was fired by the president earlier this week.
Trump has chosen CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson, but Pompeo is not able to contact the foreign ministers of the two Koreas until his nomination is approved by the Senate.
Kono will also hold separate talks Friday with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during which Kono is expected to underscore South Korea’s plan to push for an irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Kang and Kono, both of whom are on three-day visits to the U.S., will meet Saturday in Washington.
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