Singapore, Jun 6: Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will embark on a two-day visit to Pyongyang from tomorrow, ahead of the historic June 12 summit here between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.
Balakrishnan will visit Pyongyang at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today in a statement.
Balakrishnan will also call on North Korea’s ceremonial president Kim Yong Nam during his visit to the country, it said.
He is not the first Singaporean leader to visit North Korea. In 2008, George Yeo, then minister for foreign affairs, made a five-day official visit to North Korea.
Singapore is hosting the landmark meeting between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jung Un on June 12.
Preparations are underway in Singapore for the first summit between the top leaders of United States and North Korea.
Singapore is putting up facilities at a racing track pit in the central business district for more than 3,000 journalists expected to cover the historic summit.
Initially, there was uncertainty over whether the summit would go ahead at all, and it was briefly called off last month by Trump after a dispute with the North Koreans over the key issue of denuclearisation.
Multiple US and N Korean teams are holding simultaneous meetings ahead of the Singapore Summit.
