Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong-un

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday and is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Pompeo left for Pyongyang from Tokyo earlier in the day, where he met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono, reports Yonhap News Agency.

South Korean officials said that in Pyongyang Pompeo will hold a meeting with the North Korean leader on the issues of denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime.

Following the meeting, Pompeo will fly to Seoul for a meeting with President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha later Sunday and brief them on the results of his trip to the North.

On Monday, he will depart for Beijing for further talks with Chinese officials.

His visit to the North, his fourth, comes as the US and the North are trying find a breakthrough in the stalled denuclearization negotiations.

The US has insisted that the North must declare its nuclear arsenal before any peace process moves forward, but the North has sought an initial end-of-war declaration from the US.

--IANS

ksk/mr