text: SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met North Korean officials in Pyongyang on Friday, hoping to “fill in” details on how to dismantle the North’s nuclear program and recover the remains of U.S. troops missing from the Korean War. 
   
   Pompeo met Kim Yong Chol, who played a key role with Pompeo in arranging last month’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, according to a pool report by reporters traveling with him. 
   
   The talks lasted nearly three hours and it was uncertain whether Pompeo would meet Kim Jong Un. He will spend the night in Pyongyang, his first overnight stay in North Korea. 
   
   “We just wrapped our first meeting of the day,” Pompeo told reporters. “I’m proud of my team’s work.” 
   
   At the Singapore summit, Kim Jong Un made a broad commitment to “work toward denuclearization”, but fell short of details on how or when he would dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, which it has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. 
   
   “The President told me he believes that Chairman Kim sees a different, brighter future for the people of North Korea. We both hope that’s true,” Pompeo said on Twitter after a phone call with Trump as he headed for North Korea. 
   
   “Next stop: Pyongyang. I look forward to continuing my meetings with North Korean leaders. There’s much hard work ahead but peace is worth the effort.” 
   
   Pompeo said he was seeking to “fill in” some details on North Korea’s commitments and maintain the momentum towards implementing the agreement from the summit, according to the pool report. 
   
   Pompeo would try to agree on at least an initial list of nuclear sites and an inventory that could be checked against the available intelligence, U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters. 
   
   Also high on the agenda is the issue of the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the 1950-53 Korean War. Trump said after the Singapore summit that Kim had agreed to send the remains back to the United States. 
   
   Both issues are considered essential tests of whether Kim is serious about negotiations. North Korean officials have yet to demonstrate that in working-level talks, the intelligence officials said. 
   
   U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a meeting with North Korean Director of the United Front Department Kim Yong Chol at the Park Hwa Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 6, 2018. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS 
   
   “If they’re serious, then we can get down to the business of defining the terms of final denuclearization,” said one official. 
   
   But the U.S. ability to verify the accuracy of any North Korean list is limited due to the lack of a “high confidence” accounting of the North’s nuclear arsenal, such as the number of warheads and uranium enrichment facilities, especially if they are not operational, they said. 
   
   While, in the past, the Pentagon has said North Korean officials have indicated they had the remains of as many as 200 U.S. troops, a U.S. military official familiar with the procedures for handling remains said it was not clear what North Korea might hand over. 
   
   “BUILDING TRUST” 
   
   Pompeo will stay in the Paekhwawon, or 100 Flowers Garden, a prestigious guesthouse where former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun stayed during his summit with Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, in 2007. 
   
   “This is your third visit to our country so I guess you are used to it now,” Kim Yong Chol told Pompeo at the guesthouse, according to the report. “The more you come, more trust we can build between one another.” 
   
   Some officials in the State and Defense Departments and in U.S. intelligence agencies are worried that Trump has put himself at a disadvantage by overstating the results of the Singapore summit. 
   
   Ahead of the summit, Pompeo said Trump would reject anything short of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization”. 
   
   But following talks on Sunday between U.S. envoy Sung Kimand North Korean counterparts, this “CVID” language appears to have disappeared from the State Department lexicon. 
   
   It says pressure will remain until North Korea denuclearizes, but in statements this week, it redefined the U.S. goal as “the final, fully verified denuclearization” of the country. 
   
   Some U.S. officials and experts have said the change in language amounted to a softening in approach. The State Department said its policy remains unchanged. 
   
   Pompeo’s talks, which resume on Saturday, will be closely watched in the region. He is due to meet officials from allies South Korea and Japan in Tokyo also on Sunday. 
   
   Slideshow (11 Images) 
   
   A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office would only say South Korea and the United States were working to formulate “constructive measures” on North Korea’s denuclearization. ||||| When Mike Pompeo meets Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, he will reportedly attempt to smooth a path towards denuclearisation with a gift that playfully references a low point in relations between the North Korean leader and Donald Trump: a CD of Elton John’s Rocket Man. 
   
   
   
   The US secretary of state will present Kim with the CD along with a letter from Trump, who memorably turned the song’s title into an epithet after the North stepped up its ballistic missile tests last year. 
   
   Play Video 2:26 Trump: I’ll handle ‘little rocket man’ Kim Jong-un – video 
   
   Quoting unnamed sources in Washington, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the gifts reflected Trump’s belief that Kim would follow through on commitments the leaders agreed at their summit in Singapore last month. 
   
   Several times last year, Trump referred to the dictator as “little rocket man,” while Kim reciprocated by labelling the president a “mentally deranged dotard”. 
   
   Trump raised the rocket man reference during their meeting, the newspaper said. Kim said he had never heard the song, it added, prompting the president to ask Pompeo to take the CD with him to Pyongyang on what is his third trip to North Korea since April. 
   
   Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) Next stop: Pyongyang. I look forward to continuing my meetings with North Korean leaders. There's much hard work ahead but peace is worth the effort. pic.twitter.com/eozwL3Mx28 
   
   Pompeo was met on Friday at Pyongyang airport by Kim Yong-chol, a senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, and foreign minister Ri Yong Ho. While still en route, his spokeswoman Heather Nauert said he was “seeking to fill in some details on these [denuclearisation] commitments and continue the momentum towards implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world. I expect that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is ready to do the same.” 
   
   The CD is not the first bizarre White House offering to Pyongyang. During their summit, the US and North Korean delegations watched a four-minute video, made in the style of a Hollywood trailer, setting out the North’s stark choice: conflict with a powerful enemy or a peaceful and prosperous future as America’s (denuclearised) partner. The film, a copy of which was given to Kim, casts him and Trump as the architects of a new chapter in world history – “two men, two leaders, one destiny”. 
   
   As concerns grow that North Korea is upgrading its nuclear capability, despite agreeing to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Pompeo said he expected the North to “fill in some details” outlined in the leaders’ Singapore declaration. 
   
   Pompeo said: “Since the summit the consultations have continued. On this trip I’m seeking to fill in some details on these commitments and continue the momentum towards implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world. I expect that [North Korea] is ready to do the same.” 
   
   In an earlier tweet Pompeo said Trump believes Kim wants a “different, brighter future” for North Koreans. “I spoke with @POTUS while we were both in the air. The President told me he believes that Chairman Kim sees a different, brighter future for the people of North Korea. We both hope that’s true,” he said. ||||| Donald Trump applauds while delivering a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. 
   
   Donald Trump made his way to Great Falls, Montana, on Thursday (July 5), primarily to slam Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and accuse him of failing to live up to his promises in Washington. 
   
   However, among the digs at Tester, Trump made a particularly interesting comment, originally noted by Deadline. He compared his oral skills to the talent of the great Elton John. "I’ve broken more Elton John [attendance] records, and I don’t have a musical instrument," he boasted. "I don’t have a guitar, or an organ. This is my only musical instrument–the mouth–and hopefully the brain is attached to the mouth. The brain is so much more important.” 
   
   The President and the music icon have had a bit of history during the 2016 campaign. Trump used "Rocket Man" during a lot of his rallies, and often refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as the song title. 
   
   “I don’t really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign. I’m British,” John told The Guardian at the time. “I’ve met Donald Trump, he was very nice to me, it’s nothing personal, his political views are his own, mine are very different, I’m not a Republican in a million years.” ||||| HONG KONG — When President Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea and mocked its leader, Kim Jong-un, as “Rocket Man” in a speech on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, the rhetorical retaliation from Pyongyang was inevitable. 
   
   That Mr. Kim would call Mr. Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” on Friday was something more of a surprise. The word “dotard” in particular sent people to the dictionary to look up the arcane put-down. ||||| U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left for North Korea on Thursday for denuclearization talks and brought two gifts for leader Kim Jong-un. One is a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and the other an Elton John CD with his song "Rocket Man." Sources in Washington said the gifts reflect Trump's expectations that Kim will follow through on the pledges in an agreement the two signed at their summit. 
   
   
   
   One diplomatic source in Washington said, "The 'Rocket Man' CD was the subject of discussion during Trump's lunch with Kim. Kim mentioned that Trump referred to him as 'rocket man' when tensions ran high last year" after a series of nuclear tests and missile launches by the North. "Trump then asked Kim if he knew the song and Kim said no." Trump remembered the conversation and told Pompeo to take a CD with the song for Kim. He reportedly wrote a message on it and signed it. Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang on Friday for a two-day visit. This is his third trip to North Korea. He is accompanied by Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and seasoned nuclear negotiator, Allison Hooker, a National Security Council adviser, Randall Schriver, an assistant secretary of defense for Asia Pacific security affairs, and Andrew Kim, the head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center. Six reporters are also on the plane. 
   
   U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boards a plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday. /AP-Yonhap 
   
   Trump softened his approach to denuclearization since the summit. Reuters on Wednesday said Trump appears to have "shelved an 'all or nothing' approach to North Korean denuclearization. The U.S. State Department furtively shifted its insistence on a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) to a finally, fully-verified denuclearization (FFVD) after the North bristled against the former approach. Pompeo is expected to discuss the return of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. Although the North agreed to return their remains, details need to be ironed out, and North Korea has not yet taken delivery of some 100 coffins that are waiting at the border. The two sides will also discuss the timing of the North's dismantlement of the Tongchang-ri missile engine test site and whether to allow U.S. monitors to observe the process. 
   
   From left, Andrew Kim, Sung Kim, Allison Hooker and Randall Schriver 
   
   But the key is whether Pompeo can get Kim to act on his vague denuclearization pledge, agreeing to dismantle a specified amount of nuclear warheads by a given date. U.S. officials remain skeptical whether Pompeo's visit will produce palpable results. North Korea experts in Washington are unconvinced of the North's sincerity, and U.S. intelligence reports leaked last week suggest that North Korea is hiding nuclear facilities and suggest it has no real intention of giving up its nuclear arsenal. Read this article in Korean ||||| Photo: Getty 
   
   President Trump gave a speech at the United Nations in September of 2017 where he famously called Kim Jong Un, “rocket man.” Now, in one of the most bizarre stories we’ve heard this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver a CD of Elton John’s song “Rocket Man” to the North Korean dictator today. Our world is truly beyond parody. 
   
   
   
   When President Trump and Kim met during their historic photo-op on June 12th, Trump reportedly asked Kim if he’d ever heard Elton John’s 1972 hit song. According to the South Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo, the 34-year-old Kim replied that he’s never heard “Rocket Man.” So now Trump is sending a signed copy of the CD to Kim. Not signed by Elton John, mind you. The CD is reportedly signed by Donald Trump. 
   
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   Trump repeatedly called Kim both “rocket man” and “little rocket man” on Twitter and at his “campaign-style” neo-fascist rallies over the past year. 
   
   Mike Pompeo arrived in North Korea today for a two-day planning visit with officials from North Korea. The meeting is the third for Pompeo as they begin to lay the groundwork for another meeting between Trump and Kim. But skeptics wonder if this next meeting will actually accomplish anything. 
   
   So far, the United States is the only side that has given any concessions by agreeing to cease military drills in the region. North Korea has supposedly agreed to work towards denuclearization, something the country has agreed to many times before but never actually done. Experts have been cautiously optimistic that the meetings have staved off a Trump-created crisis, as he’s repeatedly threatened war against North Korea. But they also worry that Trump is setting expectations for disarmament that won’t be met. 
   
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   Photo: AP 
   
   “On this trip, I’m seeking to fill in some details on those commitments and continue the momentum toward implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world,” Secretary Pompeo said in a written statement from the State Department. “I expect that (North Korea) is ready to do the same.” 
   
   
   
   For whatever it’s worth, Rocket Man is a damn good song. But Elton John hasn’t given Trump any kind of endorsement. 
   
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   Trump’s obsession with the song “Rocket Man” predates his presidency. Trump used the song repeatedly during his 2016 campaign at numerous rallies. But Elton John insists he never gave permission for use of the song. 
   
   “I don’t really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign. I’m British,” Elton John said at the time. “I’ve met Donald Trump, he was very nice to me, it’s nothing personal, his political views are his own, mine are very different, I’m not a Republican in a million years.” 
   
   [Chosun Ilbo] 
   
   Update, July 7, 2018, 11:10am: The U.S. State Department has come out denying that this story is true. 
   
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   From the Washington Post: 
   
   Speaking as Pompeo arrived in Tokyo, Nauert told reporters that the only thing Pompeo had left in Pyongyang was a letter to the North Korean leader from President Trump. “He didn’t leave anything behind other than a letter,” Nauert said. 
   
   But when Pompeo was asked about the CD directly he didn’t confirm or deny the story: 
   
   Pompeo was asked about the CD earlier by a journalist accompanying him to North Korea; the secretary of state laughed but did not confirm or deny the report. 
   
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   So, I guess, make of that what you will. 
   
   Update, July 10, 2018: President Trump has confirmed the existence of the CD but said that Pompeo didn’t deliver it yet. 
   
   “They didn’t give it. I have it for him. They didn’t give it. But it will be given at a different period,” Trump told pool reporters before departing for Europe this morning. “I actually do have a little gift for him, but you’ll find out what that gift is when I give it.” ||||| The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch.
target: – President Trump is about to dredge up what the Guardian says was a "low point" in his relationship with Kim Jong Un, but this time around as a wry attempt to suggest "no harm, no foul" to the North Korean leader. At least, that's what appears to be the reason behind a gift Trump is reportedly giving Kim, to be delivered via Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while he's in North Korea this week: a CD with Elton John's song "Rocket Man," per the Chosun Ilbo's sources. Late last year, Trump often referred to Kim—and not in a complimentary way—as "Rocket Man" or "Little Rocket Man" in tweets and speeches, leading Kim to fire back that Trump was a "mentally deranged US dotard." Apparently the "Rocket Man" epithet came up when the two leaders met at last month's summit in Singapore, and Trump discovered that Kim had never heard the Elton John song. And so the CD (reportedly signed by Trump) ended up in Pompeo's luggage, along with a letter to Kim. Gizmodo, which calls "Rocket Man" a "damn good song," notes Trump seems fixated on the 1972 hit, which became a staple of sorts at his rallies while he was campaigning for the presidency. On Thursday, Trump once again referenced the British superstar, per Billboard, noting at a rally in Montana that "I've broken more Elton John [attendance] records, and I don't have a musical instrument. … This is my only musical instrument—the mouth—and hopefully the brain is attached to the mouth. The brain is so much more important."