The White House sent a team to meet with North Korean officials to prepare for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, despite uncertainty, The Hill reports.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that several officials, including the former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Sung Kim, traveled to meet with the North Koreans.
A Pentagon official and the White House National Security Council’s Korea expert also traveled to meet with the Vice Foreign Minister of North Korea.
The Post also reported that meetings on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program are scheduled to take place on Monday or Tuesday.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that “pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare should the summit take place,” after it was announced that South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim had a surprise meeting on Saturday to discuss the potential Trump-Kim summit, ABC News reports.
The surprise meeting between Moon and Kim was held Saturday morning on the north side of their shared border. The two leaders, according to ABC News, shared opinions on the potential summit between Trump and Kim, as well as how to implement steps that Kim and Moon agreed to in their meeting on April 27.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that the conversations between Moon and Kim “have gone very well.”
These meetings come after Trump penned a letter to Kim, canceling the June 12 summit in Singapore due to North Korea’s “tremendous anger and open hostility.”
However, the president has, in recent days, said the summit could still take place.
“We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date,” Trump wrote on Twitter Friday.
We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018
On Sunday, Moon said that Kim is committed to summit and to dismantling his nuclear program.