Mike Pompeo to Brief South Korean President Moon on Trump-Kim Summit

Collage of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and South Korean President Moon Jae-in
AFP/AP

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to South Korea on Wednesday to provide a personal briefing to President Moon Jae-in on counterpart Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Pompeo will meet with Moon on Thursday afternoon to provide a detailed account of issues discussed during the historic meeting in Singapore. It is Pompeo’s first official visit to South Korea since assuming office in April.

“Secretary Pompeo is scheduled to visit Cheong Wa Dae [the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential palace] on Thursday. The president will likely meet him personally,” an anonymous South Korean official told the outlet.

Pompeo has been an integral part of recent negotiations with North Korea, having personally prepared Trump for the meeting. Last month, he dined with U.S.-designated terrorist Kim Yong-chol in New York to discuss the possibility of denuclearization.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono will also travel to South Korea to engage in three-way talks between Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

Trump himself spoke to Moon Jae-in for about 20 minutes on Tuesday following his summit, offering his personal account of the meeting.

After the summit, Moon’s office released a statement from South Korea hailing the meeting as a “great victory achieved by both the United States and the two Koreas, and a huge step forward for people across the world.”

“[The] Agreement will be recorded as a historic event that has helped break down the last remaining Cold War legacy on earth,” they continued.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also praised Trump’s involvement, describing the meeting as a “step in a comprehensive resolution.”

“I highly praise and appreciate President Trump for mentioning the issue of abduction (of Japanese by North Korea) to Kim, which is an important issue for Japan,” he told reporters in Tokyo. “I’m determined that Japan will have to directly face North Korea and resolve (the abduction issue) bilaterally.”

Trump has indicated the meeting was a success, with the two leaders signing a declaration that agrees to “establish new U.S. – DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the population of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.”

The statement also declares the two countries “will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula” and an assurance from North Korea that it will “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.

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