North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had discussed the upcoming talks at a key ruling party meeting a day earlier, State-run media reported on Tuesday.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the confirmation by Kim came during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, where leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea “made a profound analysis and appraisal of the orientation of the development of the North-South relations at present and the prospect of the DPRK-US dialogue.”
It is the first official acknowledgement of the talks which was first reported in the media when US President Donald Trump said last month that he would meet with Kim in May or early June.
The talks are parts of efforts to reduce tensions surrounding North Korea’s nuclear and weapons program, which began after Pyongyang sent a delegation of its athletes to South Korea for the Winter Olympics earlier this year. It then allowed representatives from South Korea to travel to the North and plan a summit between leaders of the two countries. It was then that North Korea's leader announced the intention to hold talks with the US president.
The KCNA said in its Tuesday report that during the high-level party meeting Kim had also “referred to the North-South summit and talks to be held at the House of Peace in the South side portion of Panmunjeom on April 27.”
It is also the first time North Korean media confirm the date and location of the summit between leaders of the two neighbors.
Leaders of the two countries have only met two times since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice.
