'We Hope It All Works Out': Pompeo Pays Surprise Visit To North Korea For Talks

President Trump closed the door on U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal Tuesday — but during the very same televised announcement, the president opened a window onto talks about another country's nuclear program: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is traveling to North Korea to discuss an expected summit between the two countries. Although there were no guarantees that the American prisoners would be freed during Mr Pompeo’s visit, US officials said their release would be significant goodwill gesture ahead of the Mr Trump-Mr Kim summit that is expected later this month or in early June. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo first travelled to North Korea as CIA chief in early April (Andrew Harnik/AP) “At this very moment, Secretary Pompeo is on his way to North Korea in preparation for my upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un,” Mr Trump said at the White House. "We're hoping to set out that set of conditions that will give them this opportunity to have a historic, big change in the security relationship between North Korea and the United States, which will achieve what the President has tweeted about and talked about: complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization." Mr Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang aims to lock down the date and venue for a formal announcement to be made. However, state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying China “supports North Korea to stick to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and supports North Korea and the U.S. in solving the peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation.”

Trump tweeted Tuesday that he planned to speak with Xi later in the day to discuss trade and North Korea, where he said “relationships and trust are building.”

Kim was quoted as telling Xi that North Korea remains committed to denuclearization and has no need to possess nuclear weapons if a “relevant party” drops its “hostile policy and security threats” against it, a clear reference to the United States. But typically bellicose Pyongyang has softened its rhetoric since the start of the year, pledging efforts to negotiate a permanent peace treaty with South Korea and denuclearize the entire Korean Peninsula. BEIJING >> North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a northern Chinese port city and pledged his continuing commitment to denuclearization ahead of his expected summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday.
For the second time in two months, North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un meets China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, this time in Dalian.