U.S. secretary of state to meet Kim, Moon, China, Japan officials

By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea, Sunday, fueling optimism for progress in the stalled nuclear talks between the two countries.

The U.S. Department of State announced Tuesday that on his fourth visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He is expected to discuss a planned second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump following the previous one in Singapore, June 12.

The department said Pompeo, after wrapping up his North Korea visit, will come to Seoul, also on Sunday, and brief President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha about his talks in Pyongyang.

He is also scheduled to visit Japan (Saturday) and China (Monday) and meet his counterparts there.

Pompeo's return to Pyongyang comes in line with his meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week.

Washington and Pyongyang have made little progress in their nuclear talks since the first Trump-Kim summit, which drew a backlash for being short on specifics, especially on steps toward denuclearization.

On Pompeo's third visit in July, Kim stood him up and his regime issued a sharply critical statement. Trump then called off Pompeo's plan to travel to Pyongyang in August.

"It shows forward progress and momentum that the secretary is making his fourth trip back in less than a year," a State Department spokeswoman said.

"Of course, we have quite a ways to go but we look forward to the next steps in this conversation."

Cheong Wa Dae was optimistic about the visit amid speculation that a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War and other corresponding measures for denuclearization can be discussed.

President Moon Jae-in is committed to declaring an end to the war by December and the U.S.-North Korea consensus on denuclearization is critical in meeting this commitment.

"It will be the U.S. and North Korea who will deal with denuclearization firsthand. And we'll keep track of Pompeo's dialogue with the North," a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

Analysts speculated the U.S. and North Korea may already have reached a consensus to some extent over denuclearization methods and a declaration ending the war.

"I don't think Pompeo's trip, Saturday, would have been possible unless the two countries had a coordinated agenda regarding denuclearization," said Cho Sung-ryul, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

Cho said North Korea may have accepted the U.S. proposal to shut down a nuclear weapons plant in addition to the Yongbyon complex that Kim promised to close during his third summit with Moon from Sept. 18 to 20.

"In return, the U.S. may ease economic sanctions on North Korea. These are possible agreements that I think were made between the two countries prior to Pompeo's visit," he said.

Some analysts remained cautious over progress in the nuclear talks, pointing out that Pompeo's third visit only resulted in Washington and Pyongyang accusing each other of dragging their feet on denuclearization.

（作者：汽车配件）