Patrick Semansky/Reuters
Kim Yong Chol watches the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, February 2018.
- A hardline North Korean official with a bad reputation, Kim Yong Chol, is meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York on Wednesday.
- It will be President Donald Trump's first indication of where North Korea really stands in upcoming talks.
- North Korea dispatched Kim to New York to meet Pompeo as part of a scramble to save the proposed June 12 summit in Singapore.
- He is known as someone with a tough negotiating stance who makes dark jokes that don't go over well.
- Meeting him should give Pompeo an unfiltered look at North Korea's stance - but could provoke an extreme reaction.
President Donald Trump will get his first an indication of where North Korea really stands in upcoming denuclearization talks on Wednesday, when a hardline official with a bad reputation meets Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York City.
North Korea has dispatched Kim Yong Chol to New York to meet with Pompeo as part of a scramble to save the June 12 Singapore summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump, which would be the first meeting of its kind.
Kim Yong Chol has worked for all three North Korean leaders and served in the country's intelligence service for 30 years. During this time he earned a formidable, dark reputation.
Kim is believed to be behind the 2014 cyber attack on Sony Pictures and the sinking of a South Korean Navy ship known as the Cheonan in 2010 that ultimately killed 46 sailors, both of which North Korea deny. Nonetheless, the naval attack in particular has made him a hated figure in South Korea.
He introduced himself to a crowd at a South Korean concert in 2018 by saying: "Hi. I'm the man you blame for sinking the Cheonan," according to 38 North.
"Kim Yong Chol can be quite sarcastic and exhibits what would be called snark," North Korea Leadership Watch wrote.
He is known as someone with a tough negotiating stance who makes dark jokes that don't go over well, yet he routinely represents North Korea in talks with the South.
In one diplomatic interaction, he rejected South Korea's proposals and asked "Do you have another briefcase? Surely you have another briefcase of proposals with you."
What the hardliner's visit means for Trump
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Ivanka Trump and Kim Yong Chol at the closing ceremony for the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018.
So far Trump has had little direct contact with North Korea, and has mainly received their messages through South Korean intermediaries.
South Korea, under President Moon Jae-in, a liberal elected on a platform of engaging with the North, has many reasons to soften Pyongyang's image and message in talks with Trump.
Not least among these reasons is that Trump has proven willing to use military force, and renewed conflict in South Korea could cost untold thousands of lives there.
Eventually, Trump will have to hear North Korea's demands, and Kim Yong Chol is an unfiltered source of them.
"North Korea is sending a hardliner and it could indicate that North Korea is serious about the negotiation," Yun Sun, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center told Business Insider.
"The traditional perception is that the people from Foreign Ministry are only channels to convey messages without being able to commit or agree to anything," said Sun.
"Given Kim's military background, this could be a sign that North Korea is dedicated to the summit and negotiation this time."
As Kim Yong Chol isn't expected to sugar coat anything, this meeting with Pompeo could indicate just how viable future talks about denuclearization are.
Hearing North Korea's serious positions before the talks is a necessary step to make the summit happen.
Nonetheless, Kim Yong Chol's visit is a serious test for the Trump administration, whose appetite for North Korean snark remains questionable.