President Donald Trump has confirmed that CIA director Mike Pompeo has met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The US president tweeted to confirm reports that a meeting had taken place.
“Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed,” tweeted the president.
“Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!”
Mr Trump, who has been hosting Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe at his Florida estate, earlier said five locations were under consideration for the meeting, which was scheduled to take place by early June.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump and Mr Kim had not spoken directly.
Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
Mr Kim’s offer for a summit was initially conveyed to Mr Trump by South Korea last month, and the president shocked many by accepting it.
US officials indicated over the past two weeks that North Korea’s government had communicated directly with Washington that it was ready to discuss its nuclear weapons programme.
It would be the first summit between the US and North Korea during more than six decades of hostility since the Korean War.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and its capability to deliver them by ballistic missile pose a growing threat to the US mainland.
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