Trump administration nixes informal talks with North Korea

Informal talks scheduled for next week between a North Korean delegation and a team of former US officials were canceled Friday after the Trump administration withdrew its initial approval of the North Koreans’ visas, two people who had planned to participate said.

The back-channel talks were to be held in New York between the US experts and a six-member team of North Koreans led by Choe Son-hui, the director of the American affairs bureau of the country’s foreign ministry.

Donald Zagoria, the head of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, an advocacy group that was organizing the talks, emailed participants Friday morning to say next week’s meeting would proceed as scheduled after receiving assurances that the visas would be granted, the two participants said.

But hours later, Zagoria sent a follow-up email to the group saying the visas were not approved and the talks were off.

The last-minute withdrawal of the approval of the visas came hours after the Malaysian government announced that VX nerve agent was used to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, the estranged brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Macau. The extremely toxic chemical is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

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South Korea has accused Pyongyang of ordering the killing, and the Malaysian government has implicated four North Koreans in Kim’s death.

In canceling the talks, top Trump administration officials seem to have overruled State Department officials, who supported the talks, one of the people who planned to attend said.

“I think it was the VX that really made the difference,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “Someone looked at this and said, ‘Wait a minute, we should not be doing this right now.’ “

Kim’s death came on the heels of North Korea’s ballistic missile test on February 12, which coincided with Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe’s visit with President Donald Trump. Abe was dining with the President at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, when the launch took place.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as the country tests a new intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The missile launching system used to fire the Pukguksong-2.

The Pukguksong-2 was launched on Sunday, according to North Korean state media.

Kim supervised the launch, according to state media.

Kim was present at the site and personally gave the order for the launch, state media reported.

Kim celebrates with soldiers after the missile test, which North Korean state media claimed was successful.

This was the first missile test by Pyongyang since US President Donald Trump took office.

North Korea missile launch

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Informal “track 2” talks allow policymakers and experts to exchange views outside the more constrained atmosphere of formal negotiations. North Korean and US experts have met in such settings in recent years in Berlin and Malaysia.

The last meeting in the US was in 2012, when a delegation from Pyongyang attended a closed-door conference in New York on security in Northeast Asia. John Kerry, then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met with the leader of the North Korean delegation, Ri Yong Ho, who at the time was the country’s representative to the “six-party talks” with the US, South Korea, China and Russia over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Ri is now North Korea’s foreign minister.

The Obama administration did not approve visas for future talks, however, after the North Korea continued to provoke the US with nuclear and missile tests.

The group of Americans planning to take part in next week’s talks included former US Ambassador to China Winston Lord, Robert Gallucci, who served as a negotiator with North Korea under President Bill Clinton, and Victor Cha, a top Asia adviser to President George W. Bush. Evans J. R. Revere, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of state specializing in North Korea, was also scheduled to attend.

North Korean high school students play on a beach at Wonsan, on September 11, 2017.

Bartender at the Rainbow floating restaurant in Pyongyang on September 10.

Sunday afternoon row boats on the Taedong River, Pyongyang, beside Juche Tower. Taken on September 10.

Participation in mass celebrations is mandatory for those privileged citizens allowed to live in the capital, Pyongyang. Taken on September 9.

Pyongyang residents walk past a poster marking the 69th DPRK Foundation Day on September 9. It reads "Let the entire world look up to the great Kim Il Sung nation and Kim Jong Il Korea."

This statue in Samjiyon depicts North Korea's founding President Kim Il Sung when he was a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese. Taken on September 6.

The lobby of the CNN team's hotel in Samjiyon on September 5.

A bus driver who drives a Japanese vehicle over some of the bumpiest roads in North Korea. Taken on September 5.

Propaganda banners line the streets of Samjiyon on September 4.

Public transportation in rural North Korea, near the Chinese border, taken on September 4.

A young North Korean musician in the border town of Kaesong, taken on September 4. Music is a huge part of life in North Korea.

North Korean tour guide at Mt Paektu outside the alleged birth place of Kim Jong Il, on September 3. Kim is widely considered to have been born in Russia.

Housing units deep in rural North Korea, near the border with China, taken on September 3.

A boy living in the mountainous northeastern border region on September 3, not far from North Korea's sixth nuclear test.

The view from the top of Mt Paektu on September 3, a sacred site to North Koreans close to the border with China. First time CNN has ever been allowed here.

The Mausoleum of Tangun is said to hold the remains of the ancient King Tangun -- widely considered a mythical figure.

North Korea built the pyramid in 1994 and has not allowed outside experts to verify the remains inside.

Sunset from inside Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on August 31.

The crowd applauds as North Korean TV airs footage of their latest missile launch outside Pyongyang Station on August 30, 2017.

The parents in North Korea of an inadvertent defector react to a video message, shared by CNN's Will Ripley, from their daughter, who lives in South Korea and cannot return home. The family hasn't been together in years.

May Day celebrations are held on May 1 in Pyongyang.

A North Korean boy sits in his family's living room on April 30 in Pyongyang.

North Koreans in Pyongyang celebrate the country's 85th annual Army Day on April 25. The holiday celebrates the founding of its army.

A North Korea veteran stands against the backdrop of the USS Pueblo, a US Navy ship that North Korea captured in 1968. CNN's Will Ripley‪ asked this veteran about his thoughts on the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier conducting joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean. The veteran told Ripley, "We can sink that aircraft carrier."

Ripley noted that in Pyongyang, children are often seen dressed in bright, colorful clothing, contrasting with the more conservative and darker outfits worn by many adults.

North Korean soldiers march on April 15, as the nation marks the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung, who is also the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.

North Koreans celebrate the birthday of Kim Il Sung. He would have been 105.

Tanks roll through Kim Il Sung Square on April 15.

North Korean air force jets fly over the Pyongyang celebration.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears at a ceremony to formally open a housing development in Pyongyang on April 13. The project was rushed to completion in under a year, North Korean officials say.

North Koreans gather to witness the opening of the Ryomyong Street housing development.

Foreign journalists are filmed by North Korean media during the Ryomyong Street event.

Soldiers leave the opening ceremony of the Ryomyong Street development.

North Koreans observe a statue of their founder, Kim Il Sung, at the Museum of the Korean Revolution on April 10. CNN's Will Ripley said it was the first time CNN cameras had been allowed into the Pyongyang museum.

North Koreans pose on April 9, for a photo at Mangyongdae, the birthplace of Kim Il Sung.

Boys in Pyongyang pose for a photo at a secondary school for orphans on February 19.