N Korea official en route to Washington

Seoul: A top North Korean official left for Washington on Thursday, reports said, for talks with his US counterpart ahead of an expected summit between President Donald Trump and Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Yong Chol, Kim’s right-hand man and the counterpart to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in denuclearisation talks, was seen getting into a vehicle at Beijing airport after flying in from Pyongyang, pictures showed. Hours later, he left the Chinese capital on a United Airlines flight which is expected to land in Washington at 6:50 pm local time, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, adding that he was accompanied by two North Korean officials. He was expected to meet Pompeo today before paying a courtesy call on Trump, it said, and appeared to be carrying another letter from his leader for the US commander in chief. — AFP