US, North Korea to hold talks this week after nuclear standoff

The United States and North Korea plan to hold high-level talks in Washington as soon as this week to discuss a second summit of their leaders, following a prolonged stalemate in nuclear talks, South Korean media said on Tuesday.

The meeting, led by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, would happen on Thursday or Friday, the Chosun Ilbo said, citing an unnamed diplomatic source familiar with the talks.

Both sides are expected to finalize the date and location of a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the North’s envoy is likely to meet Trump, the paper said.

South Korean news agency Yonhap also quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol could meet this week.

The North Korean delegation could visit the United States “as soon as this week” but plans have not been finalised, a CNN reporter, citing an unnamed source, said on Twitter.

Ahead of the possible meetings, a letter Trump sent to Kim Jong Un was flown to Pyongyang and hand delivered over the weekend, the CNN reporter added, citing the source.

The U.S. embassy in Seoul did not immediately comment on the reports. While the White House had offered no immediate comment on the earlier South Korean newspaper report, a State Department official responded, “We don’t have any meetings to announce.”

If confirmed, this week’s meeting could mean the two sides are nearing a compromise after a months-long standoff over how to move forward in ending North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Pompeo, who made several trips to Pyongyang last year, sought to meet his counterpart last November, but the talks were called off at the last minute.

Contact was resumed after Kim’s New Year’s speech, in which he said he was willing to meet Trump “at any time,” South Korea’s ambassador to the United States, Cho Yoon-je, told reporters last week.