CIA Director Pompeo met with Kim Jong
In this April 12, 2018, photo CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies on his nomination to be the next secretary of state on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two U.S. officials say Pompeo recently traveled to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un. Pompeo's trip to the isolated communist nation came in advance of a potential summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. The officials spoke anonymously about Pompeo's trip because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. / AP
CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently traveled to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong-un, two officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The highly unusual, secret visit comes as the enemy nations prepare for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim within the next couple of months.
The officials spoke about Pompeo's trip on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The Washington Post, which first reported Pompeo's meeting with Kim, said it took place over Easter weekend — just over two weeks ago, shortly after the CIA chief was nominated to become secretary of state.
Trump, currently at his Florida resort hosting Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said Tuesday that the U.S. and North Korea were holding direct talks at "extremely high levels" in preparation for a possible summit with Kim. He said five locations were under consideration for the meeting, which is slated to take place by early June.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Kim have not spoken directly.
Talks underway to officially end Korean War 2018-04-18 16:38 | North Korea South Korea seeking end to armistice, establish permanent peace 2018-04-18 11:53 | North Korea Peace treaty with N. Korea possible following denuclearization 2018-04-18 11:56 | North Korea Kim's offer for a summit was initially conveyed to Trump by South Korea last month, and the president shocked many when it was announced that he had accepted. U.S. officials have indicated over the past two weeks that North Korea's government has communicated directly with Washington that it is ready to discuss its nuclear weapons program.
It would be the first ever summit between U.S. and North Korea during more than six decades of hostility since the Korean War. North Korea's nukes and capability to deliver them by ballistic missile pose a growing threat to the U.S. mainland.
The U.S. and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations, complicating the arrangements for contacts between the two governments. It is not unprecedented for U.S. intelligence officials to serve as a conduit for communication with Pyongyang.
In 2014, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper secretly visited North Korea to bring back two American detainees.
At his confirmation hearing last week to become the top U.S. diplomat, Pompeo played down expectations for a breakthrough deal on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons at the planned Trump-Kim summit, but said it could lay the groundwork for a comprehensive agreement on denuclearization.
"I'm optimistic that the United States government can set the conditions for that appropriately so that the president and the North Korean leader can have that conversation and will set us down the course of achieving a diplomatic outcome that America and the world so desperately need," Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
After a year of escalating tensions, when North Korea conducted nuclear and long-range missile tests that drew world condemnation, Kim has pivoted to international outreach.
The young leader met China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing in late March, Kim's first trip abroad since taking power six years ago. He is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the demilitarized zone between the rival Koreas on April 27. (AP)
- 最近发表
-
- 29 Dive Bars, Saloons, and Taverns Where the Vibe Is Unbeatable
- Mack DeGeurin
- Best travel deal: A $500 gift card to Southwest Airlines is just $449.99 at Costco
- 倡导绿色办公 减少资源浪费
- 12 Places that Celebrate Women in Science
- 青衣江水文测报第一站 雅安水文基础能力提升项目开工
- Yes, a chunk of the space station crashed into a house in Florida
- 25 Places for Noodle
- 16 of the Most Epic Sandwiches Around the Planet
- 国庆假期即将来临 6条精品旅游线路让你畅游雅安
- 随机阅读
-
- 采购商+48,英德红茶在泉城济南蹭蹭涨粉
- Yoon vows to respect views of junior doctors
- 8 Ghost Towns to Visit for Food and Spirits
- 又见公费定向师范生被通报!广东10多个地方已有超40人违约
- 雨城区疾控中心提示:科学补碘 防治碘缺乏病
- Norris beats Verstappen to go fastest in Australian practice
- Pakistan to host ODI tri
- [Graphic News] Damages from phishing scams jump over 35%
- Discover Secret Swimming Holes and Hidden History in Crystal River, Florida
- N. Korea regains status as country implementing global anti
- Amazon deals of the day: 40
- Seoul City uses rabies vaccine bait to protect wildlife
- Top 10 Tech Pranks
- Astronomers discover cyclones ravage this exoplanet
- Zoom unveils all
- How to screen record on an iPhone
- 11 Places to See Tiny Trains
- US Space Force to perform world's first military exercise in orbit
- 雅安疾控疫情防控提示(10月11日)
- How to hide apps on iPhone
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-