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US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

As North Korea and the US discuss the location of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump that is slated for May, they are reportedly focusing on the options of Pyongyang or Washington, D.C.

“The locations being discussed have been narrowed to Pyongyang and Washington because North Korea thinks it’s not desirable for the leaders of the two countries to discuss urgent matters affecting them in some other country,” a source who is familiar with the process of the discussion about Kim and Trump’s summit said on Apr. 7.

North Korea reportedly prefers holding the summit in Pyongyang because of the practical difficulty of Kim traveling to Washington. But if the two sides are unable to reach an agreement over the location of the summit, it remains a possibility that the summit could be held at a third site, such as South Korea, the source added.

CNN also reported that North Korean and American intelligence agencies have been holding working-level meetings in secret and that they have had several rounds of dialogue focused on hammering down a location for the summit. CNN quoted multiple sources as saying that North Korea is currently pushing to hold the summit in Pyongyang but that it is unclear whether the White House is willing to go along with that.

A senior official in the South Korean government said that the location of the summit had apparently not yet been determined. But since South Korean President Moon Jae-in seeks to serve as a mediator between North Korea and the US, there are indications that his administration would like the summit to be held in South Korea if possible. The Blue House has repeatedly expressed its interest in holding a trilateral summit between South Korea, North Korea and the US following the inter-Korean summit in April and the North Korea-US summit in May, which strongly implies that South Korea is angling to host the North Korea-US summit.

If the summit is held in South Korea, a senior government official said, “it would help the South Korean government take the driver’s seat as it has sought to do, and [the government] could support [the summit]. It would not only be easier to figure out [what happened at the meeting] and support South Korea-US cooperation, but it would also be another opportunity to meet the North.” But this official noted that the location of the meeting “is entirely a decision for North Korea and the US to make.”

Once an agreement is reached about the location of the summit, negotiators are planning to set the date of the meeting and to discuss the agenda in greater detail, CNN reported. As for the date of the meeting, CNN quoted officials as saying that the schedule has not yet been announced but that the current goal is the end of May or even June. Others predict that the North Korea-US summit could take place earlier than expected.

While North Korea has never publicly announced Kim’s proposal to meet with Trump, it is aware that Trump has accepted the summit proposal, and the preliminary meetings between intelligence officers have made the North even more confident that the US is serious about holding a summit with Kim, sources said.

Sources said that Trump told friends this past weekend that he is greatly looking forward to his summit with Kim. They added that they have reconfirmed through the preliminary meetings that Kim is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. During a meeting with Trump and his advisors on Apr. 8, a South Korean special delegation to North Korea relayed Kim’s commitment to denuclearization.

The discussions between North Korea and the US have reportedly been handled by CIA Director Mike Pompeo (who has been nominated as Secretary of State) and a dedicated team at the CIA through an unofficial intelligence channel. Significantly, the recent working-level discussions have been designed to lay the foundation for talks between Pompeo and his counterpart, the head of the North Korean intelligence service, these sources explained.

The reason the preparations for the summit are taking place through an intelligence channel is because Pompeo has not officially assumed his duties as Secretary of State and is still waiting for his nomination to be ratified by the Senate. Once Pompeo is ratified, he will take charge of diplomatic preparations, CNN said. John Bolton, who will be officially assuming his post as White House National Security Advisor on Apr. 9, is expected to play a major role along with Pompeo.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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