South Korea to brief U.S. on meeting with North Korea’s Kim

WASHINGTON — South Korean officials are to brief the White House Thursday on the outcome of their pathfinding meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a U.S. official said.

Seoul has reported that North Korea offered talks with the United States on denuclearization and normalizing ties, a potential diplomatic opening after a year of escalating tensions over the North’s nuclear and missile tests. The rival Koreas also agreed to hold a leadership summit in late April.

Top Trump administration officials get a chance to hear firsthand from South Korean national security director, Chung Eui-yong, who led the delegation that went to Pyongyang.

Chung will meet Thursday afternoon with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and brief other senior U.S. government officials. That’s according to a National Security Council spokesman who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting and requested anonymity.

Chung told reporters on Tuesday that he received a message from North Korea intended for the United States, but didn’t disclose what it was.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday in Ethiopia that the U.S. has seen “potentially positive signals” from North Korea, but the adversaries are still a long way from holding negotiations.