White House clarifies that U.S. President Trump did not have direct talks with Kim Jong-un
- 6 years ago
Talks to lay the groundwork for the first ever U.S.-North Korea bilateral summit are fast developing,... and U.S. President Trump made a number of comments on the issue this morning.
Lee Ji-won has more.
Tuesday's headlines were filled with claims that U.S. President Trump had direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The news came after Trump smiled and answered "yes" when asked by a reporter if he had spoken directly with Kim.
This was among the many questions thrown at Trump at the same time, possibly causing some confusion among the press during the first day of two-day summit with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
While that would have been a major development if it were true, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders soon clarified that the talks were not with Kim directly.
What has been confirmed is that the U.S. did engage in direct talks with the North at "extremely high levels", according to President Trump, but he did not specify which senior officials from Washington and Pyongyang have talked.
The U.S. leader also said that he believes "there is a lot of good will" and that "good things are happening",... but stressed that Washington will see what happens, as it is ultimately the end result that is important, rather than the fact that they are working on having a meeting.
Just hours after Trump's comments, there was a report that CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang.
Citing two people with direct knowledge of the trip, the Washington Post said the CIA chief went to Pyongyang over the Easter weekend to meet Kim Jong-un as Trump's envoy, in an effort to lay the groundwork for the much anticipated North Korea-U.S. summit.
The Easter weekend was from March 31st to April 1st.... not long after Pompeo had been nominated for Secretary of State.
This would make Pompeo one of the most senior officials known to have visited Pyongyang in recent years,... following the nation's intelligence chief James Clapper in 2014.
But the CIA and the White House declined to comment on the matter.
The intelligence agency has been in direct contact with the North in recent weeks.
Multiple sources, including CNN and Reuters, reported that CIA and State Department officials are communicating with the North through back channels to plan for the summit which is expected to be held in late May or early June.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
Lee Ji-won has more.
Tuesday's headlines were filled with claims that U.S. President Trump had direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The news came after Trump smiled and answered "yes" when asked by a reporter if he had spoken directly with Kim.
This was among the many questions thrown at Trump at the same time, possibly causing some confusion among the press during the first day of two-day summit with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
While that would have been a major development if it were true, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders soon clarified that the talks were not with Kim directly.
What has been confirmed is that the U.S. did engage in direct talks with the North at "extremely high levels", according to President Trump, but he did not specify which senior officials from Washington and Pyongyang have talked.
The U.S. leader also said that he believes "there is a lot of good will" and that "good things are happening",... but stressed that Washington will see what happens, as it is ultimately the end result that is important, rather than the fact that they are working on having a meeting.
Just hours after Trump's comments, there was a report that CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang.
Citing two people with direct knowledge of the trip, the Washington Post said the CIA chief went to Pyongyang over the Easter weekend to meet Kim Jong-un as Trump's envoy, in an effort to lay the groundwork for the much anticipated North Korea-U.S. summit.
The Easter weekend was from March 31st to April 1st.... not long after Pompeo had been nominated for Secretary of State.
This would make Pompeo one of the most senior officials known to have visited Pyongyang in recent years,... following the nation's intelligence chief James Clapper in 2014.
But the CIA and the White House declined to comment on the matter.
The intelligence agency has been in direct contact with the North in recent weeks.
Multiple sources, including CNN and Reuters, reported that CIA and State Department officials are communicating with the North through back channels to plan for the summit which is expected to be held in late May or early June.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.