NEW YORK (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meetings Thursday with a top North Korean official ended more than two hours earlier than expected because the talks “went well” and “made progress” in salvaging an on-again, off-again summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a U.S. official said.
Earlier, Trump told reporters that North Korean officials may come to Washington on Friday with a letter from Kim. The adversaries are eying the first summit between the U.S. and North Korea after six decades of hostility.
The U.S. official said the high-stakes discussion in New York lasted a little more than two hours, until 11:25 a.m., well before the scheduled end at 1:30 p.m. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Shortly after leaving the meeting venue at the residence of the deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Pompeo tweeted: “Substantive talks with the team from #NorthKorea. We discussed our priorities for the potential summit between our leaders.”
Pompeo met with Kim Yong Chol, one of the North Korean leader’s closest aides. He is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the U.S. in 18 years. He and Pompeo had discussions over dinner of steak, corn and cheese on Wednesday, Pompeo said in an earlier tweet.