Seoul says DPRK leader Kim to visit Russia, reveals details of Kim-Pompeo meeting

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Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un is expected to visit Russia soon, Yonhap reported on Monday, citing Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in.

The president the ROK spoke of Kim's imminent travel plans at a Cabinet meeting without giving any further details, reported Yonhap.

It came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang.

Both the DPRK and US said Pompeo's visit and meeting with Kim paved the way for a second Trump-Kim summit.

Longer than five hours

More details about Kim's latest meeting with Pompeo have been disclosed by the ROK.

ROK's presidential office said the Kim-Pompeo meeting lasted about five and half hours. It appears the two met for two hours in the morning and had lunch together for about an hour and a half and held a meeting for about two hours in the afternoon, the Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters on Monday.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on October 7, 2018. /KCNA Photo

"I think Chairman Kim used sufficient time and exercised sincerity while putting weight on the meeting with Secretary Pompeo," the spokesman said, adding that Kim Jong Un was accompanied only by his sister Kim Yo Jong and an interpreter during the morning and afternoon meetings.

The Blue House said Pompeo briefed Moon about the outcome of his trip to Pyongyang during closed-door talks on Sunday in Seoul.

Pompeo told Moon that the US and DPRK sides agreed to arrange a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump "as soon as possible" and discussed potential US monitoring of Pyongyang's steps towards denuclearization.

Prior to his visit to China, the last leg of his Asian trip, Pompeo told reporters that Kim Jong Un was ready to allow international inspectors into the DPRK's nuclear and missile testing sites.

The inspectors would visit a missile engine test facility and the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site as soon as the two sides agree on logistics, he said before leaving for Beijing.

Cautious optimism

Speaking to reporters on Monday, ROK's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she remained cautious about the outlook of a second Kim-Trump summit, Yonhap reported.

"There was no talk of a specific date," she said. When asked if the Kim-Trump talks would be held before the US mid-term elections in early November, she said all possibilities remain open.

On her proposal for the US to hold off its demand for the list of the DPRK's nuclear weapons, the minister said the Trump administration seems to "be making preparations with lots of flexibility."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks with ROK President Moon Jae-in during their meeting in Seoul, October 7, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The US State Department said Washington and Pyongyang will hold working-level meetings soon to "refine options for the location and date of that next summit." The negotiations will be led by Stephen Biegun, US special representative for Pyongyang, and Choe Sun Hui, DPRK's vice foreign minister, it said.

In the meantime, Choe is traveling to Moscow for a trilateral meeting scheduled on Tuesday with her counterparts from Russia and China, according to the Russian government.

(Top image: DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) and ROK President Moon Jae-in (L) shake hands at the Paekhwawon State Guest House in Pyongyang, September 19, 2018. /VCG Photo)