US President Donald Trump has confirmed on Wednesday that CIA director Mike Pompeo recently traveled to Pyongyang for a secret meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong-un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!" Trump tweeted.
Trump nominated Pompeo last month to replace Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State. He is currently waiting to be confirmed by the US Senate in Congress.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea during the first weekend of April, citing two people with direct knowledge of the trip.
According to The Washington Post, the extraordinary meeting between one of Trump's most trusted officials and Kim Jong-un was part of an effort to lay the groundwork for direct talks between Trump and Kim about North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Trump had previously acknowledged that Washington and Pyongyang were in contact at "very high levels."
On Tuesday, Trump backed efforts between North and South Korea aimed at ending inter-Korean hostilities. He also said that five locations were being considered for his proposed meeting with Kim.
Kim is expected to meet South Korea's President Moon Jae-In at a landmark meeting next Friday where discussion of a peace declaration is now on the cards. The summit could explore a peace treaty to formally end the conflict.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war.
