United States: Sung Kim

No stranger to Pyongyang's dramatic ploys and tactics

They are diplomats on opposite sides and each has been a familiar face in the long-running negotiations between the United States and North Korea. They are now locked in talks again for the Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.

Mr Sung Kim was special envoy for the six-party talks held from 2003 to dismantle North Korea's nuclear programme.
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WASHINGTON • The US Ambassador to the Philippines, Mr Sung Kim, is no stranger to negotiating with North Korea or to its notorious propensity to stand up Americans, stage dramatic events and renege on nuclear deals.

He was born in the South Korean capital Seoul, a city he has always considered his second home and to which he returned as US ambassador from 2011 to 2014, at the end of which he was given honorary citizenship by then Mayor Park Won Soon.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 29, 2018, with the headline No stranger to Pyongyang's dramatic ploys and tactics. Subscribe