White House: Pompeo heading to North Korea this week

The trip comes after news reports that Pyongyang is expanding a facility to build solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave July 5 to meet with North Korean officials and continue talks about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, the White House announced Monday.

“We are continuing to make progress,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “There’s momentum for positive change and moving forward for positive negotiations.”

Specifics on the trip will be announced later by the State Department, she said.

The trip comes after a report from the Wall Street Journal that North Korea is expanding a facility to build solid-fuel ballistic missiles. The Journal cited satellite imagery that showed the bulk of new construction on the facility in Hamhung, North Korea, took place between April and June.

When asked whether Trump still trusts North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he met in Singapore last month, Sanders said, “We see progress and momentum in the process and good conversations as recently as yesterday, and we’re going to continue those conversations later this week.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/mike-pompeo-north-korea-white-house-heading-this-week/