North Korea's top nuclear negotiator is on his way to Washington,... carrying a letter from the regime's leader.<br />At the same time, the North's vice foreign minister is in Europe.<br />Some watchers have suggested Choe Son-hui could meet with her American counterpart Stephen Biegun in Stockholm.<br />It all points to arrangements for a long-anticipated second summit between Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.<br />Lee Seung-jae starts us off.<br /> <br />The North Korean leader's right-hand man Kim Yong-chol is en route to Washington, reportedly carrying Kim Jong-un's return letter to President Trump.<br />The North Korean envoy was spotted arriving in Beijing on Thursday afternoon.<br />He caught a plane bound for Washington in the evening and is set to land there on Thursday evening, local time.<br />Kim will stay overnight in Washington -- the first such case for a North Korean official since 2000 -- and meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday.<br />It's likely he'll meet President Trump too, as according to CNN, he's carrying Kim Jong-un's letter to Trump -- a reply to Trump's letter that was delivered last weekend.<br />This comes as North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has arrived in Sweden. <br />She previously told reporters she was attending an international conference in the Scandinavian country.<br />But as she's North Korea's U.S. expert and one of the key figures related to the nuclear negotiations, observers say she could meet U.S. officials in Stockholm.<br />The Washington Post reports... if the high-level talks go well between Kim Yong-chol and Mike Pompeo, U.S. officials are expecting Choe Son-hui and U.S. nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun to meet for the first time in Sweden.<br />The daily adds... the time and location of the second North Korea-U.S. summit could be announced as soon as Friday, and it says the summit is likely to be held in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang in March or April.<br />But amid the dialogue momentum, the United States is remaining tightlipped on Kim Yong-chol's trip to the U.S.<br />Asked if the State Department had plans to announce any meetings involving the visiting official, a spokesperson said there were no meetings to announce.<br />President Trump often takes to Twitter to announce North Korea-related news, but he has not mentioned the regime, or its leader in recent days.<br />Despite the silence from the U.S.,... the two sides are expected to sit down with each other.<br />Watchers say the key will be finding middle ground on their respective demands and take a step closer to reaching a deal on the North's denuclearization.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News. <br />
