Future Of Summit Between U.S. & North Korea Could Be Decided In Next 24 Hours
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Apparent progress continues to be made towards a summit between the United States and North Korea.
The future of the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be decided in the next 24 hours.
That's because a high ranking North Korean official is on his way to New York to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the matter.
Kim Yong Chol, the right hand man of Kim Jong Un, has arrived in the U.S. for talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Kim and Pompeo will have dinner Wednesday evening and discuss if it's possible to proceed with a June 12th summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.
"The conversation is going to be focused on de-nuclearization of the peninsula," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
"As long as that is part of the discussion we're going to continue to shoot for the June 12th and expect to be there."
For now the Trump-Kim meeting is officially off but both sides are preparing as if it will be on.
News crews spotted a U.S. team in Singapore working on logistics for the possible summit.
After Trump cancelled the summit last week in a letter to Kim Jong Un, the North Koreans had stopped communicating with the U.S.
But Tuesday Trump tweeted that Kim Yong Chol's visit was a "solid response" to his letter.
Kim Yong Chol is North Korea's former spy chief and has been in all of the meetings with U.S. officials discussing de-nuclearization.
Kim and secretary Pompeo have been face-to-face twice before during Pompeo's trips to Pyongyang. But this will be the first time the two have talked in America.
In fact, apart from trips to the UN, Kim's visit will be the first time a North Korean official has visited the U.S. in 18 years.
Kim Yong Chol is currently on the U.S. sanctions list so he's likely had to receive a waiver in order to make the trip to America.