US top diplomat Pompeo's meeting with DPRK officials postponed

WASHINGTON - A meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and officials from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea set for Thursday in New York has been postponed and will be rescheduled "when our respective schedules permit," the US State Department said on Wednesday.

In a statement, it added, "Ongoing conversations continue to take place," but did not elaborate.

"The United States remains focused on fulfilling the commitments agreed to by President Trump and Chairman Kim at the Singapore summit in June," it said.

The exact reason for the postponement was unclear.

Pompeo had been due to hold talks with senior DPRK official Kim Yong-chol, which were hoped to have opened the way for a second summit of the two countries' leaders and make progress on denuclearization.

The meeting agenda had been to "discuss making progress on all four pillars of the Singapore Summit joint statement, including achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the DPRK, the State Department had said this week.

The June meeting of President Donald Trump and DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore was the first summit meeting of an incumbent US president and a DPRK leader.

Reuters