government once kim jong un assumed office in 2011. so this guy is estimable. right? this is a guy worth taking seriously. this is the highest-ranking north korean who s been allowed to visit north korea in 20 years. the immediate former head of the north korean intelligence service who in fact built that service. are you sure this is definitely the one guy you who want to let in? are you sure there s no particular risk about him in particular coming over here? i mean, technically there is the matter of him being sanctioned multiple times personally by the u.s. government. legally he s not even technically allowed to set foot in this country. but there he was. eating filet mignon and vanilla ice cream we re told with mike pompeo at some new york restaurant last night. and then this afternoon we got this note. kim yong chol will meet briefly with potus in the oval. what?
north korean-facing mike pompeo is master spy. the north korean official meeting with secretary of state mike pompeo to salvage nuclear talks is a former spy chief linked to some of his country s highest-profile military operations in recent years including a 2014 cyberattack on sony pictures that cost the company widespread embarrassment and millions of dollars in damages. from 2009 to 2016 general kim headed north korea s top intelligence and cybersecurity agency, the reconnaissance general bureau where he was linked to infamous cyberattacks against the west and deadly attacks in south korea. he helped groom kim jong un during his ascent to bureau. kim has served three generations of north korean dictators. he managed to survive a deadly wave of purges that felled many of his counterparts in the top echelons of the north korean government once kim jong un assumed office in 2011. so this guy is estimable. right? this is a guy worth taking