Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump named Alex Wong, who was engaged in working-level nuclear talks with North Korea during his first term, as his principal deputy national security adviser amid expectations he could seek to reengage with Pyongyang after returning to office.

Trump issued a statement on his decision to appoint Wong, who served as the deputy special representative for North Korea and the deputy assistant secretary for North Korea in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department when he was in office.

The personnel choice came amid speculation that Trump could move to revive his personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an effort to complete the unfinished business of addressing the recalcitrant regime's worsening nuclear quandary.

"As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un," Trump said. "Alex also led the State Department's efforts to implement the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy."

When he was in office, Wong served as the No. 2 negotiator in denuclearization talks with North Korea.

He engaged in follow-up talks with the North in Pyongyang in July 2018 after the first-ever summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore in June 2018. He was also part of the preparation team for the second summit between the leaders in Hanoi in 2019.

In his State Department role, Wong led a U.S.-led campaign to address the North's nuclear and missile conundrum, including sanctions enforcement, counterproliferation, and steps to curb and prevent the regime's illicit cyber activities.

Observers said that Trump's selection of Wong for the White House post bodes well for the resumption of diplomacy with the North, though it remains uncertain whether Pyongyang would accede to any diplomatic overture from Washington when it has a growing military partnership with Moscow.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly boasted about the "love letters" from Kim and his personal ties with him, raising the prospects for reengagement with the North. He also said that "getting along" with the North Korean leader is a "good thing."

In a photo book published in September, Trump said that his summitry with Kim during his presidency showed that "real change" was "indeed" possible, portraying it as "honest, direct and productive."

Trump had three in-person meetings with Kim, including the first summit in Singapore in 2018. Since the no-deal summit in Hanoi in 2019, meaningful nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled.

Wong received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review and an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and served as the chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressionally appointed panel. (Yonhap)