Ruling Democratic Party Rep. Youn Kun-young says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un almost paid a visit to Seoul in 2018. 

Youn, who headed the presidential office’s state affairs office during the Moon Jae-in administration, made the disclosure Tuesday during an MBC radio program to introduce his book “Panmunjeom Project,” which centered on his experiences involving inter-Korean exchanges in 2018. 

According to the lawmaker, the two Koreas agreed during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in September 2018 that Kim would visit Seoul, and following consultations they scheduled the visit for December 1 of that year. 

Youn said Seoul conveyed its plans to the North regarding Kim’s visit, but then Pyongyang canceled the trip a day before Kim was set to arrive. 

The legislator speculated that security concerns and the North’s difficult relations with the U.S. prompted the cancellation.