▲ North Korean State Council Chairman Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump shaking hands at the first North American meeting in June 2018


Free Asia Broadcasting, citing Canadian media, reported that it was belatedly revealed that North Korea and Canada had discussed normalizing diplomatic relations two years ago.



According to Canadian media'Globe & Mail', six North Korean officials visited Vancouver and Ottawa for three days in October of the same year, after the 2018 US-North Korea summit took place, and held a secret meeting with officials from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



At this meeting, the two countries are known to have discussed measures to build trust, including military-related issues, and to establish a Canadian embassy in Pyongyang.



North Korean officials' visit to Canada was concluded through the North Korean delegation to the United Nations, and it was found that a senior Canadian official made a phone call with a North Korean foreign ministry official in September 2018 prior to the meeting.



The Canadian side said it was ready to visit and inspect North Korean nuclear facilities in Tonghua at the time, and urged North Korea to give up its nuclear program and cooperate with denuclearization verification and inspections.



Canada and North Korea previously promoted the establishment of two embassies in Pyongyang and Ottawa, but collapsed after North Korea's bombardment on Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.



However, the two countries' universities have continued to cooperate with each other, such as exchange study programs, and Canadian aid organizations have also been approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue support programs, and exchanges continue at the private level.



The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made it clear that it will not ease sanctions against North Korea prior to the'complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization' of North Korea, Free Asia Broadcasting said.