Global Geopolitical Series: Sweden likely to host Trump-Kim summit

Preparations are going on for North Korea-U.S. summit, where a sitting U.S. President will be meeting North Korean Supreme leader for the first time in history. Earlier this month, President Trump agreed to meet Kim Jong-Un when South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy delivered Mr. Kim’s invitation for a face to face meeting after they had met the Supreme leader in Pyongyang.

According to reports, Sweden is likely to host the Trump-Kim summit which would reportedly be held in the month of May. Earlier this month, Trump met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven at the White House and last week, North Korean foreign minister paid a rare visit to Sweden and held two days talks with his Swedish counterparts.

Swedish foreign ministry released the following statement about the meeting,

“On 15–17 March, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström and North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong-ho met in Stockholm for talks. The North Korean delegation also paid a courtesy call on Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. The talks focused primarily on the security situation on the Korean peninsula, which is high on the UN Security Council agenda. Sweden is a member of the Security Council for the 2017–2018 term.”

However, there were no statements regarding the details of the discussion. Since Sweden has acted many a time in the past as a neutral ground for talks between hostile powers, speculations are rising that it may once again prove to be a neutral territory for the Trump-Kim summit.