South Korea's NIS: N. Korea, US split on talks conditions; shift possible around APEC

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on 29 October that North Korea and the United States have not yet reached contact because their positions on conditions for dialogue differ. The agency said it understands that both sides are leaving open the possibility of a shift in the situation around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and are preparing for it. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]

The NIS reported this at the National Assembly Intelligence Committee's audit held at its Seoul headquarters. Yoon Kun-young (윤건영) of the Democratic Party and Yoo Young-ha (유영하) of the People Power Party, the committee's whips, relayed the report in a briefing afterwards. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]

The NIS also analysed North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un's recent day trip to Dandong, China. It said there was likely a purpose beyond marking the 'Resist America, Aid Korea' commemoration, including inspecting the New Yalu River Bridge given Kim's tendency to check sites in person, and that he may have conveyed North Korea's thinking on US talks to China's leadership. [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]

The agency noted that the delegation did not match the stated purpose. It said no senior military figures were included and the group was made up mainly of diplomats, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (최선희). On the Chinese side, officials such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi mainly attended, and almost no economic officials appeared on either side. [ 3 , 5 ]

The NIS said the Chinese official who received Kim was changed from Premier Li Qiang to Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, because of China's schedule, including a Communist Party plenary session. It described Wang as a close aide to Xi Jinping who has been a bridge between the two leaders since 2018 and who visited North Korea in July. It concluded that China put forward someone suitable for North Korea to accept. [ 3 , 5 ]

The NIS read Kim's frequent company of Choe, and the emphasis on her during the trip, as a sign that he is weighing a North Korea-US meeting. Yoo noted that North Korean reports showed Choe talking closely with Wang Yi away from the lead group, and Jo Yong-won (조용원), who outranks her, giving up the seat beside Kim. On China's role, the NIS said Beijing could convey Kim's position to the US in a soft manner but is not expected to mediate actively. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]

The NIS also said North Korea and Russia are expanding cooperation, that it is tracking possible talks on weapons parts and technology transfer, and that it is watching for a possible forward deployment of 600mm large multiple rocket launchers. On Kim's daughter Kim Ju Ae (김주애), it said her public activity since 2022 is gradually establishing her as successor, with about 60 percent of it in the military sector. [ 3 , 4 ]