Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that three powerful North Korean officials did not visit South Korea’s presidential office during their surprise trip to Seoul in October last year because they could not contact their leader Kim Jong-un.

RFA quoted researcher Yoshihiro Makino at the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as saying that when the top North Korean officials visited Seoul on October 4 last year, they could not reach Kim to secure his approval nor obtain directions required for their visit to the South’s presidential office.

At that time, the presidential office and the Unification Ministry said that the North Korean officials said they could not visit the top office due to lack of time.

The head of the United Front Department of the North’s ruling Workers' Party of Korea Kim Yang-gon, the director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau, Hwang Pyong-so, and secretary of the North's Workers' Party Choe Ryong-hae visited South Korea on October 4, 2014.