Top North Korean officials will hand-deliver a letter to President Trump in Washington on Friday from their leader, Kim Jong-un, as Secretary of\u2026<\/b>
\nTop North Korean officials will hand-deliver a letter to President Trump in Washington on Friday from their leader, Kim Jong-un, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported \u201creal progress\u201d toward resuming plans for a high-stakes denuclearization summit.
North Korean Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol and a delegation from Pyongyang were headed from New York City to meet with Mr. Trump at the White House in what will be the first visit by officials from the isolated communist nation in 18 years.
They are bearing a letter that is likely a response to Mr. Trump \u2019s overture for Kim Jong-un to \u201ccall me or write\u201d if Pyongyang decides to tone down its hostile rhetoric toward the U. S., angry words that prompted the president to cancel the summit last week.
After Mr. Pompeo wrapped up several hours of talks with the North Koreans in New York over two days, Mr. Trump expressed hope that a meeting with Kim Jong-un still could take place on June 12 in Singapore as the U. S. seeks to persuade Pyongyang to give up all aspects of its nuclear weapons program.
\u201cHopefully, we\u2019ll have a meeting on the 12th,\u201d Mr. Trump told reporters. \u201cBut I want it to be meaningful. It doesn\u2019t mean it gets all done at one meeting; maybe you have to have a second or a third. And maybe we\u2019ll have none.\u201d
Mr. Pompeo, the former CIA director, emerged from his third round of talks with Kim Yong-chol, a close adviser to Kim Jong-un with an extensive background in clandestine operations, sounding optimistic that the summit is back on track.
\u201cIt does no good if we are in a place where we don\u2019t think there is real opportunity to place them together,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said of the two nations\u2019 leaders. \u201cWe have made real progress toward that in the last 72 hours.\u201d
He would not confirm that the summit is definitely on schedule for Singapore on June 12 and couldn\u2019t say whether a decision would be made after Mr. Trump reads the letter from Kim Jong-un.
Despite the upbeat messaging in the U. S., Kim Jong-un, in a meeting with Russia\u2019s foreign minister on Thursday, complained that the U. S. is trying to spread its influence in the region. The comment may complicate the summit plans.
\u201cAs we move to adjust to the political situation in the face of U. S. hegemonism, I am willing to exchange detailed and in-depth opinions with your leadership and hope to do so moving forward,\u201d Mr. Kim told Sergey Lavrov.
China, North Korea\u2019s main trading partner and a key ally, said it supported and encouraged the \u201cemerging good faith\u201d between the U. S. and North Korea.
\u201cAt the same time as working to achieve the goal of denuclearization, we should also build long-term and effective initiatives to keep peace on the Korean Peninsula,\u201d Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party\u2019s central committee, was allowed into the U. S. despite being on a sanctions list. North Korean officials are not normally allowed to travel outside the New York area.
He is the most senior North Korean visitor to the U. S. since Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok visited Washington in 2000 to meet with President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. That was the last time the two sides, which are technically at war, attempted to arrange a summit.
North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have been a source of tension for decades, has made advances in missile technology in recent years, but Mr. Trump has sworn not to allow Pyongyang to develop nuclear missiles that could hit the U. S.
The administration has been urging North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, potentially in return for loosening economic sanctions, humanitarian and other aid, and improved ties with South Korea.
Mr. Pompeo said the path to better relations won\u2019t be easy.
\u201cThis is going to be a process that will take days and weeks to work our way through,\u201d he said at a news conference. \u201cThere will be tough points. There will be difficult times.\u201d
On the central question for the summit, Mr. Pompeo stopped short of saying that Pyongyang is committed to giving up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
\u201cWe\u2019ve had lots of conversations around that,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe they are contemplating a path forward, where they can make a strategic shift, one that their country has not been prepared to make before.\u201d
He added, \u201cI\u2019ve had some difficult conversations with them. They\u2019ve given it right back to me.\u201d
Since Mr. Trump canceled the summit, talks have been progressing rapidly on several fronts. South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Mr. Kim. Other U. S. and North Korean teams have been meeting in various locations, including Singapore .
Mr. Pompeo said the proposed summit \u201coffers a historic opening for President Trump and Chairman Kim to boldly lead the United States and the DPRK into a new era of peace, prosperity and security.\u201d
\u201cOur two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity to go to waste,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said.
He said he has been clear in all negotiations that Mr. Trump \u2019s position is \u201cthe complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.\u201d
For decades, North Korea\u2019s regime has viewed the development of nuclear weapons as the key to its security and its survival. Mr. Pompeo said the main challenge is still to convince North Korea that Mr. Trump doesn\u2019t want regime change in Pyongyang .
\u201cThis administration completely understands how hard this problem is,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said. \u201cThere is a long history where North Korea has viewed its nuclear program as providing the security that it needed for the regime. The effort now is to come to a set of understandings which convince the North Koreans of what President Trump has said.\u201d
\u2022 This article is based in part on wire service reports.<\/p>\n

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