Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he doesn’t know if the U.S. will know Friday whether a summit with North Korea will happen June 12th, after meeting with top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol in New York City. But Pompeo was relatively optimistic as he briefed reporters on Friday.
“Don’t know,” Pompeo said, asked about if the public will know this week whether the summit is happening June 12. He added that “real progress” has been made in the last 72 hours.
Pompeo, who is helping spearhead conversations ahead of a possible summit with North Korea next month, met with Kim for dinner Wednesday night. Mr. Trump and top administration officials have been more optimistic since the president called off the summit last week.
Pompeo stressed that the goal of the U.S. is total, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the peninsula, but Pompeo did not say whether North Korea has made sufficient commitments to the U.S. towards that end ahead of such a summit. Pompeo has meet with Kim Jong Un twice.
“It will take bold leadership from Chairman Kim Jong Un if we are able to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course for the world,” Pompeo said. “President Trump and I believe Chairman Kim is the kind of leader who can make those kinds of decisions. And that in the coming weeks and months, we will have the opportunity to test whether or not this is the case.”
The secretary of state said Kim Yong Chul is expected to deliver a letter to Mr. Trump in Washington on Friday, although he did not allude to what those contents hold. Pompeo will join Mr. Trump at the White House Friday, according to a State Department official.
— CBS News’ Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
