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Pompeo in North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim talks Pompeo in North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim talks
(35 minutes later)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang to prepare for historic talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making a surprise visit to North Korea, with speculation growing that he will bring home three jailed Americans.
Mr Pompeo said he hoped to finalise plans for talks on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Mr Pompeo's visit is intended to lay the groundwork for a historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
The surprise visit came amid growing speculation over the possible release of three US detainees. He told reporters he was hoping to finalise plans for talks, which are likely to focus on denuclearisation.
It is his second trip to Pyongyang after meeting Mr Kim last month. But the release of the detainees is a central issue for the Americans.
Mr Pompeo said that a "good relationship" was formed at the meeting in April, which marked the highest level US contact with North Korea since 2000. A South Korean presidential official told news agency Yonhap that Pyongyang was expected to release the US citizens as a "goodwill gesture".
Ahead of his latest visit to Pyongyang, Mr Pompeo said he hoped North Korea would "do the right thing" and release three Americans imprisoned in the country. Mr Pompeo said he hoped North Korea would "do the right thing" and release three Americans imprisoned in the country.
"We've been asking for the release of these detainees for 17 months," he said."We've been asking for the release of these detainees for 17 months," he said.
A South Korean presidential official told news agency Yonhap that Pyongyang is expected to release the US citizens as a "goodwill gesture" ahead of the summit between Mr Kim and Mr Trump. One of the detainees was jailed in 2015, the other two have been in prison for just over a year.
A State Department official travelling with Mr Pompeo said the US would also be "listening for signs from North Korea that things have substantially changed" with the nation's nuclear ambitions. The three jailed Americans
Mr Trump also referred to Mr Pompeo's latest visit while announcing that the US was withdrawing from an Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran. Read more: Who are North Korea's American detainees?
North Korea crisis in 300 words
This is Mr Pompeo's second trip to Pyongyang since the Trump-Kim meeting was announced.
He said a "good relationship" was formed at the meeting in April, which marked the highest level US contact with North Korea since 2000.
A state department official travelling with Mr Pompeo said the US would also be "listening for signs from North Korea that things have substantially changed" with the nation's nuclear ambitions.
'We have our meeting set'
In April, Mr Trump stunned the international community by accepting Pyongyang's suggestion for direct talks - it will be an unprecedented move for a sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader.
Mr Trump referred to Mr Pompeo's latest visit while announcing that the US was withdrawing from an Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran.
"We think relationships are building with North Korea," the president said."We think relationships are building with North Korea," the president said.
Speaking of his forthcoming meeting with Mr Kim, Mr Trump said: "We have our meeting set. The location is picked. The time and date, everything is picked."Speaking of his forthcoming meeting with Mr Kim, Mr Trump said: "We have our meeting set. The location is picked. The time and date, everything is picked."
He added: "We will see how it all works out. Maybe it won't. But it can be a great thing for North Korea, South Korea and the entire world."He added: "We will see how it all works out. Maybe it won't. But it can be a great thing for North Korea, South Korea and the entire world."
In April, Mr Trump stunned the international community by accepting Pyongyang's suggestion for direct talks - it will be an unprecedented move for a sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader. Amid the diplomatic flurry sparked by the summit, it emerged on Tuesday that Mr Kim visited China this week for talks with President Xi Jinping, the second meeting between the leaders in six weeks.
He said the summit would take place either in early June or "a little before that" and that several sites were under consideration but that none of them were in the US. They met in the northern city of Dalian and were pictured walking along the seafront together.
Mr Trump's comments on Tuesday follow an earlier confirmation that Mr Kim had made a second trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping ahead of the summit with the US president, the second meeting between the leaders of Pyongyang and Beijing in six weeks.
Chinese media quoted Mr Kim as saying he hoped "phased and synchronised" measures would be taken to realise denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.Chinese media quoted Mr Kim as saying he hoped "phased and synchronised" measures would be taken to realise denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Meanwhile Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang is in Tokyo for talks with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, their first trilateral summit in nearly three years.
Mr Abe told his visitors that Japan - which has seen North Korea missiles fly over its territory - was prepared to normalise relations with Pyongyang if the issues of nuclear weapons and of Japanese citizens abducted by the North could be resolved.