What happened in the days leading up to the historic Kim-Moon summit on April 27th on the South side of at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)? 

A future meeting between Kim and Trump had been envisaged. But Trump now seems to have hesitations: 

“It could be that I walk out quickly, with respect, but it could be. It could be that maybe the meeting doesn’t even take place. Who knows?”

The President said in the past, North Korea-US relations were “very, very nasty you know with little Rocket Man and with the buttons.” But now, he said, “they want to meet.” (CNN, April 26, 2018)

The CIA played a major role in the inter-Korean peace negotiations. The latter were conducive to CIA’s Mike Pompeo‘s secret visit to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-un on the Easter weekend.

The Pompeo-Kim secret meeting was the result of a series of bilateral meetings between North and South Korea intelligence officials, which led to setting an agenda for future Kim-Trump summit. While a draft agreement has already been formulated, the Kim-Trump meeting is up in the air.

The CIA has a close and overlapping working relationship with its ROK counterpart The Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) (now referred to as The National Intelligence Service). The KCIA created in 1961 during the US sponsored military regime of President Park Chung-hee, has consistently acted as a de facto subsidiary of the CIA, largely acting on behalf of US intelligence.

In turn, in consultation with and on behalf of the CIA, the KCIA has developed over the years an “unofficial” bilateral “working relationship” with its North Korean intelligence counterparts.

Prior and in the course of the Winter Olympics, several key bilateral meetings were held between key national security and intelligence officials of North and South Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s National security adviser Chung Eui-yong was put in charge of the negotiations in Pyongyang, officially acting on behalf of South Korea, but also (indirectly) on behalf of the United States.

On March 6, (local time), Chung Eui-yong, together with four other senior ROK officials met up with the DPRK leadership in Pyongyang. The delegation was also received at a State dinner with Kim Jong-un.

The ROK delegation also included  Suh Hoon, head of the ROK’s National Intelligence Service (KCIA), who was appointed by President Moon in May 2017. His appointment had been approved by Washington.

While KCIA Chief Suh Hoon had previously worked on a mandate geared towards dialogue and peace on behalf of the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations, and now on behalf of President Moon, he nonetheless has routine consultations with CIA director Mike Pompeo. In relation to the Pyongyang talks, it is highly unlikely that Suh Hoon and Chung Eui-yong would have acted without consulting their counterparts in Washington, namely CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser General H. R. McMaster.

(Michel  Chossudovsky, Global Research, March 10 2018)

These bilateral meetings between the KCIA and its DPRK counterparts set the stage for the secret Kim-Pompeo Easter meetings. Pompeo in the meantime has acceded to the position of Secretary of State.

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In the video below, Professor Michel Chossudovsky breaks down the options for the Republic of Korea (ROK) and makes reference to a talk he presented at a venue hosted by the country’s National Assembly on the 21st of February. Specifically  Michel Chossudovsky presents the structure of a North-South Peace proposal which requires the annulment of the US-ROK Joint Forces Command which puts all South Korean forces under U.S. Command. 

In this 30 minute interview Professor Chossudovsky critiques the Trump Administration’s ‘bloody nose’ strategy, relays his impressions of the ROK political climate and the ROK President, and outlines where Japan fits into the overall dynamic unraveling in North East Asia.