United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Wednesday accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation to visit Pyongyang in October, during which he is slated to lay the groundwork for a second summit between Trump and Kim.
"Today, Secretary Pompeo met today with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in New York. Secretary Pompeo accepted Chairman Kim's invitation to travel to Pyongyang next month to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim," read an official statement issued by the US Department of State.
Pompeo, too, confirmed the news on Twitter, saying "Very positive meeting with #DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho @UNGA to discuss upcoming summit & next steps toward denuclearization of #NorthKorea. Much work remains, but we will continue to move forward. @StateDept "
The development comes a day after Trump said that a second summit with North Korea is in the offing, during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the ongoing 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Pompeo was scheduled to visit North Korea in the last week of August to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme, along with the US' special representative to North Korea, Stephen Biegun.
However, Trump, on August 25, asked Pompeo to cancel his trip to North Korea on grounds of not making significant progress regarding the denuclearisation deal which was agreed upon during his Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un.