A team of American diplomats involved in preparatory discussions with North Korea ahead of a potential summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un left a hotel in Seoul today amid speculation that they are resuming the talks.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the American officials including Sung Kim, the US ambassador to Manila, were heading to the border village between the two Koreas, where they met with North Korean officials on Sunday.
Trump withdrew from a planned June 12 summit with Kim last Thursday, citing hostile North Korean comments, but has since said the meeting in Singapore could still happen.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has lobbied hard for nuclear negotiations between Trump and Kim, met with the North Korean leader in a surprise meeting on Saturday in an effort to keep the summit alive.
In their second meeting in a month, Moon said Kim expressed willingness to cooperate to end confrontation and work toward peace for the sake of a successful summit with Trump. But Kim also said he was unsure whether he could trust the United States over its promise to end hostile policies against North Korea and provide security assurances if the country does abandon its nuclear weapons, Moon said.
Despite Kim's apparent eagerness for a summit with Trump, there are lingering doubts on whether he would ever agree to fully relinquish his nuclear weapons when he may see them as his only guarantee of survival. Moon has insisted Kim can be persuaded to abandon his nuclear facilities, materials and bombs in a verifiable and irreversible way in exchange for credible security and economic guarantees.
US and South Korean officials haven't confirmed the details of the pre-summit negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang at the Korean village of
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