The Kims have it

When I first met US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, I asked if he was related to Aaron Kim, a venture capitalist whom I met many years ago when I was living in the-united States. He jokingly answered, “All of us Kims are related…  almost every other person in Korea is a Kim” – which was very amusing.

No doubt Ambassador Kim hit it well with many people with his good sense of humor, making him instantly popular among many Filipinos. Since I left for Washington, D.C., Ambassador Kim and I have been in close contact – making the work much easier as far as keeping our bilateral relations are concerned.

When the US State Department announced that Ambassador Sung Kim was part of the advance team of negotiators for the planned June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung-un – days after both parties wanted to discontinue the talks – many of us were not surprised.

Aside from being an excellent negotiator, the veteran diplomat was the special envoy for the Six-Party Talks on the nuclear issue with North Korea from 2008 to 2011, in the process also working expansively with China. He was also appointed ambassador to South Korea, and served as the Special Representative for North Korea Policy in Washington.

Even before Ambassador Kim arrived in the Philippines to take up his post, he already had a reputation of being a very savvy diplomat whose familiarity with Asian culture made him a perfect fit for the Philippine posting. When he presented his credentials to President Duterte, their meeting lasted for over an hour. Kim “disarmed” the president, saying they have a lot of things in common, among them the fact that they both worked as prosecutors. Before Ambassador Kim joined the foreign service, he served as prosecutor in Los Angeles, admitting that “there is something rewarding about going after bad people.”

There is no doubt that Sung Kim is already a rock star in the world of diplomacy – this reputation enhanced even more with the role he is playing in the negotiations for the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. 

While Kim Jong-un is a principal player whose actions will largely determine the outcome of the anticipated summit, there are other Kims aside from the US Ambassador who are also playing important roles in ensuring that the meeting which the whole world is waiting for takes place.

One other Kim whose presence in the “lightning diplomacy” between the US and North Korea has drawn a lot of curiosity and speculation is Andrew Kim, a retired CIA intelligence officer who was brought back to head the Korea Mission Center of the US. Set up in May last year by then CIA director and now US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, the Mission Center was launched to “more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the-united States and its allies emanating from North Korea.”

Andrew Kim – whose Korean name is Kim Sung-Hyun – was born and raised in South Korea before his family moved to the US after high school. Andrew, who served as CIA station chief in Seoul before retiring from the agency, was reportedly in South Korea during the February Winter Olympics which Vice P resident Mike Pence attended.

Kim also reportedly accompanied Secretary Pompeo during a secret trip to North Korea in April for preliminary discussions on the possible meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Dubbed by both the Japanese and South Korean media as the “grim reaper on North Korea” or the “messenger from hell,” Andrew Kim is known for his hardline stance and was involved in drawing scenarios for possible military strikes against North Korea at the height of fiery verbal exchanges between Washington and Pyongyang, those in the know disclosed.

Although his fluency in the Korean language makes him very useful in making sure that North Korean translators accurately convey messages during the discussions, Andrew’s role goes far beyond that of being mere language interpreter since his years in Korea put him in a good position to discern the North Koreans’ intent. As former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said, the former CIA officer is “very realistic about North Korea.”

Another important detail about Andrew Kim is his relationship with Chung Eui-yong, the special envoy of South Korean president Moon Jae-in. Chung, who is Andrew’s uncle, had conveyed Kim Jong-un’s message to President Trump last March indicating a desire for a summit between the two leaders.

Another Kim who plays a major role in the Trump-Kim talks is Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the central committee of North Korea’s governing Workers’ Party and the trusted right-hand man of Kim Jong-un. It was Kim Yong Chol who hand delivered a personal letter from Kim Jong-un to Trump at the White House – resulting in the revival of the talks that the US president had canceled a week earlier. Kim Yong Chol is also the most senior North Korean official to visit the US in the last 18 years.

With all the Kims involved in the preparations, it seems that Ambassador Kim’s joke that most people in Korea are surnamed Kim is spot on. In fact, when I was in Seoul during president Joseph Estrada’s official visit, we ate a lot of “Kim-chi.”

Levity aside, we all hope the Kims – especially Kim Jong-un – will forge an agreement with President Trump that will ultimately lead the world toward the path of stability and peace.

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