Discussions between U.S., North Korea moving quickly, officials say

Discussions between the U.S. and North Korea “have moved more quickly than expected,” White House officials said in a statement released on the eve of a historic meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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Trump arrived Sunday in Singapore, where the meeting is scheduled to take place Tuesday. He told reporters he felt “very good” about the planned summit.

Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. local time Tuesday. White House officials said they will meet one-on-one, with only translators present, before holding an expanded bilateral meeting that will include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor John Bolton.

After the bilateral meeting, Trump and Kim will hold a working lunch. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim and Matt Pottinger, the National Security Council’s senior director for Asia, will be part of the lunch, officials said.

Trump will address reporters after Tuesday’s meetings. He’s scheduled to speak with the media around 8 p.m. local time before leaving Singapore for the U.S.

The meeting between Trump and Kim is scheduled to take place nearly two weeks after the president met with North Korea’s former military intelligence chief at the White House. Kim Yong Chol was the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the White House in 18 years.

The president said he hopes Tuesday’s summit will be the start of improved relations between the U.S. and North Korea.

“I think it will be a process,” Trump said June 1. “I never said it will go in one meeting, but the relationships are building, and that’s a big positive.”

Cox Media Group