North Korea Ready to Discuss Denuclearization with US
Local Editor
North Korea told the United States for the first time that it is prepared to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets US President Donald Trump, an American official said on Sunday.
US and North Korean officials held secret contacts recently in which Pyongyang directly confirmed its willingness to hold the unprecedented summit, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Although at a preliminary stage, the communications involved US State Department officials talking to North Korea apparently through its United Nations mission, and intelligence officers from both sides using a separate backchannel, the official said.
Until now, the United States had relied mostly on ally South Korea's assurance of Kim's intentions.
South Korean envoys visited Washington last month to convey Kim's invitation to have a meeting.
Trump, who has exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year, surprised the world by quickly agreeing to meet him and discuss the crisis over Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
