President Trump confirms top North Korean official to visit New York for meetings on 'expected' summit
There are new signs of progress for the summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.
President Donald Trump announced on Twitter Tuesday that a high level North Korean official is heading to the U.S. for meetings surrounding a potential revival of the June 12 Singapore summit with leader Kim Jong Un.
The announcement comes a day after the White House described the summit as "expected" in a readout of a call between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The president wrote a letter to Kim last Thursday calling off the meeting.
The White House said Tuesday that Trump will meet with Abe on June 7 at the White House.
"Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more," the president tweeted. "Kim [Yong] Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York."
According to the New York Times, Kim Yong-chol will be the most senior North Korean official to visit the country since Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok met President Bill Clinton at the White House in 2000. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said Kim will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "later this week."
The president's tweet also referred in part to two U.S. delegations overseas holding meetings in Singapore and North Korea with officials on diplomatic issues, along with a logistics team led by deputy chief of staff for operations Joe Hagin.
Greeted by a group of reporters in his Singapore hotel Monday, Hagin said only, "I have a lot of meetings today."
Speaking of the meetings on Fox and Friends, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said both delegations were dispatched by the president to prepare in the event the meeting moves forward on June 12.
"As the president said if it doesn't happen June 12 it could happen thereafter," Conway said.
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