New hope for N Korea talks
Says Pompeo after exchange of letters with Kim; Trump set to visit S Korea this weekend
US President Donald Trump will visit South Korea this weekend after an exchange of letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boosted hopes for talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme.
Trump is set to arrive in South Korea for a two-day visit on Saturday, and will meet President Moon Jae-in on Sunday, following a summit of G20 leaders in Japan, Moon's spokeswoman, Ko Min-jung, said.
The announcement comes hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped a letter Trump sent to Kim could pave the way for a revival of stalled nuclear talks.
Trump and Moon would have "in-depth discussions on ways to work together to foster lasting peace through the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, while strengthening the two countries' alliance", Ko told a news briefing yesterday.
Pompeo, who spoke of Trump's letter to Kim before departing from Washington for the Middle East, said the United States was ready to resume talks with North Korea immediately.
"I'm hopeful that this will provide a good foundation for us to begin ... these important discussions with the North Koreans," Pompeo told reporters.
Trump is considering a visit to the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, a South Korean official said. Trump wanted to go there during a 2017 trip to South Korea but heavy fog prevented it.
Kim and Moon held their historic first summit in the DMZ last year, so a Trump visit to the border between the two Koreas this weekend could spark speculation of a meeting with Kim there.
Trump and Kim held their first, ground-breaking summit in Singapore in June last year, agreeing to establish new relations and work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
But a second summit in Vietnam in February collapsed when the two sides were unable to bridge differences between US demands for denuclearisation and North Korean demands for sanctions relief.
With talks stalled, tension mounted last month when the North test-fired a series of short-range ballistic missiles, though Trump and South Korea both played won the tests.
One June 11, Trump said he had received a very warm, "beautiful" letter from Kim, adding he thought something positive would happen.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA said on Sunday Kim had received a letter from Trump, which he described as being "of excellent content", but did not disclose any details.