U.S. Secretary of State nominee and CIA Director Mike Pompeo had a secret visiting to North Korea mere weeks ago where he met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The goal, to discuss a planned summit between the wayward country and President Donald Trump.
Of this meeting, Trump Tweeted: “Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!”
Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
As reported by NBC News:
The CIA and the White House both declined to comment when contacted by NBC News on Tuesday. “The administration does not comment on the CIA director’s travel,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Pompeo, a former Tea Party congressman from Kansas, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state. He was seen in the Oval Office with Trump during a meeting with a South Korean delegation at the White House last month.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “no one is under any illusions” that the planned summit between Trump and Kim will achieve a comprehensive agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that U.S. officials are holding direct talks with the North Korean government at “extremely high levels” ahead of his planned meeting with Kim. He did not elaborate on who was taking part in the meetings or whether the meetings included Kim himself.
“We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels with North Korea,” Trump told reporters. “And I really believe there is a lot of good will, lot of good things are happening.”
“Ultimately it’s the end result that counts, not the fact that we’re thinking about having a meeting or having it,” he added.
U.S. officials say North Korea is among the topics that will dominate the two-day summit with Abe and his delegation. Last month, following a visit by South Korea’s national security adviser to the White House, Trump decided to accept an invitation by the reclusive North Korean leader to meet face-to-face to discuss denuclearization.