Speaking to reporters after his weekend visit to North Korea, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept a lot of the specifics of what was discussed unclear, but did praise the discussions as a sign of “significant” progress in diplomacy.
The big news was that North Korea has agreed to allow inspectors to visit Punggye-ri, the already demolished nuclear test site, to allow them to confirm that the site is totally unusable. This is meant to confirm that North Korea delivered on the promise.
Pompeo also confirmed that there was discussion on the planned second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un. He said the US and North Korea are “pretty close” on such a deal, but no date or location has yet been publicly set.
Direct Kim-Trump diplomacy is seen as a major deal, as the two leaders seem to get on well, and seem to trust each other to make big progress. Though Pompeo’s weekend visit went well this time, his prior visit to North Korea wasn’t so positive, and ended with a lot of tension, and North Korean officials not liking his attitude.