Trump confirms CIA chief's meeting with Kim Jong-un, says it went 'very smoothly'

Pompeo's meeting with Kim marks the first such high-level interaction between the two countries since year 2000.

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter and confirmed that CIA director Mike Pompeo met North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un 'last week'. Earlier, reports had emerged that Pompeo secretly travelled to Pyongyang around April 1 and held a meeting with Kim Jong-un.

"Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!," tweeted Trump on April 18.

Pompeo's meeting with Kim marks the first such high-level interaction between the two countries since the year 2000 when then secretary of state Madeleine Albright travelled to meet late Kim Jong-il, the current North Korea leader's father.

President Donald Trump had earlier said the US was in direct talks with North Korea "at a very high level" ahead of his planned summit with Kim Jong-un. The two countries were looking at five potential venues for the summit, "but it is not in the United States", Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago where he was hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"We've also started talking to North Korea directly. We have had direct talks at very high levels -- extremely high levels -- with North Korea," Trump had said before a restricted bilateral meeting with Abe.

"I really believe there's a lot of goodwill. A lot of good things are happening. We'll see what happens. As I always say, we'll see what happens. Because ultimately, it's the end result that counts, not the fact that we're thinking about having a meeting or having a meeting," he added.

The CIA has also been working with its North Korean counterpart, Reconnaissance Intelligence Bureau. Pompeo has also been in touch with the director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon, who, according to an official cited by The New York Times, brokered Kim's invitation to Trump.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs