Harry Harris, left, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and Andrew Kim, head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in July. / Korea Times file

By Park Ji-won

A senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official on Korean affairs secretly visited South Korea and met senior officials of the two Koreas, according to local media reports last week.

Andrew Kim, chief of the CIA's Korea Mission Center (KMC), made his visit to Seoul and went to the border village of Panmunjeom on a four-day trip from Wednesday to meet officials of the two Koreas, and returned to the U.S. on Saturday.

Kim was said to have mediated efforts by the U.S. and two Koreas to narrow differences on denuclearization ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned visit to North Korea in late November, the reports said.
Kim reportedly discussed the issue with South Korean government officials and lawmakers.
The move came with denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States stalled after Pyongyang asked Washington to offer corresponding measures in exchange for its agreement to dismantle some nuclear facilities.

Kim, a Korean-American and a distant relative of Presidential National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, is known to be a close aide of Pompeo with a profound knowledge of North Korea. He has participated in most senior talks between the North and the U.S. this year. Kim met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with Pompeo.

Kim's four-day trip took place while North Korean Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, and working-level officials visited Seoul for an international peace forum organized by the Gyeonggi provincial government.

It is unknown whether the CIA's Kim and Ri have met. Kim is reported to have met senior officials from the North's United Front Department at Panmunjeom.