Pompeo to leave for DPRK on July 5

World
Europe

00:33

The White House said Monday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on July 5 for talks.

At a press briefing, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said that "to continue the ongoing and important work of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Secretary Pompeo will be leaving for North Korea (DPRK) on July 5th to meet with the North Korean (DPRK's) leader and his team."

DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un (R) meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

The State Department also confirmed Pompeo's trip, saying that the top US diplomat will be in the East Asian nation from July 5-7, as part of a journey that will also take him to Tokyo, Hanoi, Abu Dhabi and Brussels from July 5-12.

On Sunday, he will go on to Hanoi for talks with the Vietnamese government and the week after continue on to the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi before arriving in Brussels on July 10.

There he will accompany Trump to the two-day NATO summit and meet European officials to discuss energy policy.

"I think a number of things have happened. One, in the last eight months you haven't seen missile launches," she added.

"You haven't seen nuclear detonations. And again, these conversations are continuing to evolve. I'm not going to get into the details but I can tell you that progress continues to be made."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly listen as US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after his meeting with DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Pompeo is expected to meet the officials of Japan and South Korea in Tokyo on July 7 and 8, said the State Department.

The trip will be the first of its kind since US President Donald Trump met with the DPRK's top leader, Kim Jong Un, in Singapore on June 12, when they issued a statement of commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency