CIA director ‘meets North Korea’s Kim’
Raising expectations for a major breakthrough at a series of upcoming summits, Trump says ‘a great chance to solve a world problem’ was within reach on Korean peninsula
SEOUL: President Donald Trump gave his blessing to talks aimed at formally ending the Korean War in a series of diplomatic revelations on Wednesday, as reports said CIA director Mike Pompeo had met Kim Jong Un on a secret visit to Pyongyang.
Raising expectations for a major breakthrough at a series of upcoming summits, Trump said “a great chance to solve a world problem” was within reach on the Korean peninsula.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically still in a state of conlict, and the Demilitarised Zone between them bristles with mineields and fortiications.
Seoul oficials say they are looking at ways to secure a new agreement, with the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in due to hold a summit next week.
“We are looking at changing the current armistice regime to a peace regime,” an oficial of the presidential Blue House said on Wednesday.
The comments came after the US president said at his Palm Beach, Florida resort, that the inter- korean summit could, with his “blessing,” discuss a peace treaty to formally close the conlict.
“People don’t realise the Korean War has not ended. It’s going on right now. And they are discussing an end to the war,” he said. “Subject to a deal they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that.”
Trump and Kim have not spoken directly, the White House said, but the US president conirmed that Washington and Pyongyang had been in contact at “very high levels” to prepare for a historic meeting between them.
The Washington Post reported that CIA director Mike Pompeo had met Kim on a secret trip to the North over the irst weekend of April, shortly after he was nominated to be secretary of state.
Both the White House and the CIA declined to comment on the report.
“Five locations” were being considered for the summit with Kim, Trump said.
“That will be taking place probably in early June or before that assuming things go well. It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken.”
US oficials say that no decision has yet been made on a meeting venue, but China, North Korea, South Korea, and Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas are seen as possible locations.
The 1953 armistice was signed in Panmunjom and it will also see the April 27 summit between Kim and Moon, with oficials from the two Koreas meeting there on Wednesday in preparation.
The Us-led United Nations command, China and North Korea are signatories to the half-century-old armistice, while South Korea is not.
“We are hoping for some kind of an agreement between the South and North,” the Blue House oficial said.
“But it can’t be settled just with an inter-korean agreement. Afterwards, all parties involved must review and discuss the inal form of the agreement,” he said, adding that three-party or four-party talks were possible.
Trump made his remarks alongside visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with both leaders eager to iron out differences on trade and display a united front on North Korea.
Abe thanked Trump for agreeing to bring up the issue of Japanese abductees taken to North Korea, a major domestic issue.
Last year, Trump and Abe traded ist bumps and high ives as they stuck in a round of golf in Palm Beach and a return leg near Tokyo, tucking into burgers with ketchup for good measure, and Trump indicated they would try to play 18 holes on Wednesday.