Pompeo Arrives North Korea Ahead Of Trump-Kim Talks

A photo released by the White House shows Mike Pompeo, then C.I.A. director, meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang during Easter weekend. Associated Press

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday to continue preparations for President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

A South Korean government official told reporters in Tokyo Wednesday he expects Pompeo to leave Pyongyang with three American detainees who have been held in North Korea for months.

The official said the date and location of the Trump-Kim summit will also likely be announced following Pompeo’s trip.

“The location is picked, the time and date, everything is picked and we look forward to having a great success,” Trump said Tuesday at the White House.

Pompeo, who also tweeted about the trip on Tuesday said; “Headed back to #DPRK at the invitation of the North Korean leadership. I look forward to planning a successful summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un.”

Asked whether Pompeo would return with the three American prisoners currently held in North Korea, Trump played coy.

“We’ll all soon be finding out,” he said. “It would be a great thing if they are.”

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to North Korea, Pompeo said that while he will raise the plight of the three detained US citizens on his trip, and he hopes North Korea will “do the right thing,” the regime has not committed to their release.

“We’ve been asking for the release of these detainees for 17 months,” he said. “We’ll talk about it again. It’d be a great gesture if they’d agree to do so.”

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