US team in N Korea raises expectations of summit

SEOUL, May 28 (Agencies): A team of American officials was in North Korea on Monday to discuss a historic summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, raising expectations that the meeting called off last week might still happen.

"Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the summit between Kim Jong Un and myself," Trump tweeted late on Sunday.

"I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!"

Both the US state department and South Korea's foreign ministry said officials were in discussions at the Korean village of Panmunjom, which straddles the border in the demilitarised zone (DMZ).

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tapped veteran American diplomat Sung Kim, the US ambassador to the Philippines, to lead the US delegation to Pyongyang to handle pre-summit negotiations.

Sung, who is of Korean descent, had served as the US ambassador to Seoul and was part of the US team that negotiated during the six-party talks with North Korea.

On Monday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency also reported that a senior North Korean official had arrived in Beijing, apparently on his way to Singapore for pre-summit talks.

A team of US officials, led by White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, is also reportedly travelling to Singapore to help plan the June 12 meeting. Trump cancelled the planned summit in Singapore on Thursday, only to change his mind a day later.

Meanwhile, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said on Monday there could be more impromptu talks and summits with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, as US officials prepare for a historic meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim.

Moon and Kim Jong Un held a surprise meeting on Saturday at the border village of Panmunjom, during which they agreed that a North Korea-US summit must be held.

South Korean officials have said President Moon Jae-in could attend a possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Any attendance by Mr Moon would be dependent on the progress of pre-summit talks between the US and North Korean leaders, said the Blue House.

The historic meeting is scheduled to take place on 12 June in Singapore.

It has been thrown into uncertainty, after Mr Trump said he would no longer be attending.

But both sides have since been working to get it back on track.

Trump last week pulled out of the meeting with Kim, planned for June 12 in Singapore.