Pompeo’s trip, which was first reported by The Washington Post, came to light hours after Trump told reporters that the U.S. and North Korea are holding direct talks at “extremely high levels” in preparation for what would be an extraordinary meeting following months of heated rhetoric over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

The White House and the CIA declined to comment to Fox News about Pompeo’s visit.

“The administration does not comment on the CIA Director’s travel,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Trump, who welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his Florida resort Tuesday, said five locations for the potential summit are under consideration. The president would not disclose the sites but said the U.S. was not among them.

“We’ll either have a very good meeting or we won’t have a good meeting,” Trump told reporters. “And maybe we won’t even have a meeting at all, depending on what’s going in. But I think that there’s a great chance to solve a world problem.”

The president did not answer shouted questions about whether he has spoken with Kim.

Kim’s offer for a summit was initially conveyed to Trump by South Korea last month, and the president shocked many when it was announced that he had accepted. U.S. officials have indicated over the past two weeks that North Korea’s government has communicated directly with Washington that it is ready to discuss its nuclear weapons program.

Abe, who has voiced fears that short- and medium-range missiles that pose a threat to Japan might not be part of the U.S. negotiations, praised Trump on Tuesday for his bravery in agreeing to meet with the North Korean dictator.

“I’d like to commend Donald’s courage in his decision to have the upcoming summit meeting with the North Korean leader,” Abe said.

Trump also confirmed that North and South Korea are working to negotiate an end to hostilities before next week’s meeting between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In. The meeting will be the third inter-Korean summit since the Koreas’ 1945 division.

North Korea has long sought a peace treaty with the U.S. to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. But it is unusual for the North to seek to broach the issue directly with South Korea rather than with Washington. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed by the United Nations Command — the U.S.-led forces in the conflict — North Korea and China. South Korea was a member of the U.N. Command but was not a direct signatory.

Trump said Tuesday that the two Koreas “have my blessing to discuss the end of the war.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Serafin Gomez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/17/cia-director-mike-pompeo-met-with-kim-jong-un-over-easter-weekend.html

The post CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

 

TOKYO — Former President Barack Obama said Sunday that negotiations with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program are difficult in part because the country’s isolation minimizes possible leverage, such as trade and travel sanctions against Pyongyang.

“North Korea is an example of a country that is so far out of the international norms and so disconnected with the rest of the world,” Obama told a packed hall in Tokyo Sunday.

He stressed the effort to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons remains difficult, but countries working together, including China as well as South Korea and Japan, to combine pressure on North Korea will be better than nations working alone.

Obama noted that past U.S. efforts on Iran’s nuclear weapons were more successful because there was more leverage, but there’s little commerce and travel with North Korea to being with.

“That makes them less subject to these kinds of negotiations,” he said of North Korea.

Obama was speaking at an event sponsored by a Japanese nonprofit group during his trip to Asia, which included earlier stops in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. His work after leaving office has been focused on nurturing young leaders.

Obama, welcomed by a standing ovation, said the U.S.-Japan alliance remained strong, and the U.S. committed to defending Japan.

“North Korea is a real threat,” he said.

“Our view has always been that we would prefer to resolve these issues peacefully,” he said, adding that otherwise “the cost in terms of human life would be significant.”

He acknowledged progress on a nuclear-free world will likely take a long time as long as Russia and the U.S. could not agree to start reducing their stockpiles.

Obama also reflected on his 2016 visit to Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities where the U.S. dropped atomic bombs in the closing days of World War II. His visit was the first by an American president.

Almost all American presidents tend to be relatively popular in Japan, which views the U.S. as its most important ally. But many Japanese particularly appreciate Obama’s efforts on denuclearization and remember with fondness his trip to Hiroshima and his message of working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

“It was an extraordinarily powerful moment for me,” Obama recalled.

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Source: http://www.euronews.com/2018/03/25/obama-north-korea-s-isolation-gives-u-s-less-leverage-n859811

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The post Obama: North Korea’s isolation gives U.S. less leverage in talks first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.