NORTH KOREA/SUMMIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VIETNAM: “A senior North Korean official known as Kim Jong-un’s ‘butler’ has begun scouting hotels, factory sites and resorts in Vietnam ahead of the North Korean leader’s highly anticipated summit meeting with President Trump in Hanoi next week. The official, Kim Chang-son, who serves as Mr. Kim’s de facto chief of staff, arrived in Hanoi on Saturday [2-16-19] to discuss logistics with his White House counterpart, Daniel Walsh. The North Korean leader plans to arrive in Hanoi next Monday [2-18-19] to meet with President Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam before a second summit meeting with Mr. Trump, slated for Wednesday and Thursday next week, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. While in Vietnam, Mr. Kim plans to visit the Vietnamese manufacturing base of Bac Ninh Province, northeast of Hanoi, and the industrial port city of Haiphong, Reuters said.”
–Choe Sang-Hun, “Kim Jong-un’s ‘Butler’ Visits Vietnam to Prepare for Trump Meeting,” The New York Times online, February 18, 2019