National Security Director Wi Sung-lac met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the afternoon of the 30th and heard his report on a visit to North Korea, the presidential office said. Cassis came to Seoul right after holding talks in Pyongyang with Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Workers' Party secretary Jo Yong-won.
According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, Wi and Cassis exchanged views on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula. The presidential office said Wi heard the results of the North Korea trip and praised Switzerland for maintaining and widening its communication channel with Pyongyang. Both sides agreed on the importance of peace, stability, dialogue and diplomacy, and said they would keep close contact.
광고 문의 · 300×250The Swiss foreign ministry announced on the 26th that Cassis would visit North Korea and then South Korea from the 29th to the 31st. He reportedly arrived in the North on the 29th and attended a ceremony marking the reopening of the Swiss diplomatic office in Pyongyang. On the 30th he wrote on X that he had held talks with Choe and Jo, and posted a photo with Choe.
What Cassis said about Pyongyang
In his post, Cassis said he and Choe discussed reopening a North Korean diplomatic office ‘in a new form’ and exchanged views on security on the peninsula and in Eurasia. Whether more specific remarks or agreements came out of the talks could not be confirmed in this reporting. Nothing is known about the content of his meeting with Jo.
Cassis also held a dinner consultation with Jung Yeon-doo, head of the Diplomatic Strategy and Intelligence Headquarters at the foreign ministry. The ministry said they discussed bilateral ties and regional and international affairs. Jung explained Seoul's policy toward peaceful coexistence, said the government is watching Switzerland's move to reopen its Pyongyang office, and hoped it would help expand engagement with the North.
Switzerland as a channel to the North
Switzerland has long been a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission that monitors the armistice and is one of the Western countries that have kept diplomatic ties with North Korea. A Swiss foreign minister visiting the North and then the South in succession gives Seoul an indirect way to gauge Pyongyang's recent mood. The government has offered no official outlook on whether the trip will lead to inter-Korean or North Korea-US dialogue, and that has not been confirmed.
Cassis's schedule in South Korea runs through the 31st. Any further meetings or joint statements will be covered in follow-up reports.
