Singapore’s foreign minister meets Kim Jong Un’s close aide during rare visit to Pyongyang

Singapore’s foreign minister meets Kim Jong Un’s close aide during rare visit to Pyongyang

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met Kim Jong Un's top aide Jo Yong Won in Pyongyang and invited North Korea to the ASEAN Regional Forum, the first such visit in years. For diplomats tracking geopolitical risk, North Korea is actively rebuilding bilateral ties across Southeast Asia since 2024, signaling a calibrated reopening that could reshape sanctions-era trade and regional security dynamics.