North Korea’s main nuclear envoy was reportedly booked on a flight to Washington on Thursday amid speculation the two sides plan talks aimed at preparing for a second summit between their leaders.
The adversaries have been deadlocked over how to move forward after President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to the general principle of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula during their first meeting on June 12 in Singapore.
The Yonhap News Agency quoted a Chinese airport official as saying that Kim Yong Chol and two other North Korean officials had reservations to fly from Beijing to Washington Thursday on United Airlines.
Kim Yong Chol, the North’s main nuclear negotiator, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were expected to meet later this week in the U.S. capital to discuss a second summit, according to several other media reports this week.
Neither side has confirmed plans for a meeting, and flight reservations can be changed.
Hopes for a breakthrough in the impasse were raised when North Korea’s leader said in his New Year’s Day address that he was willing to meet with Trump “at any time.”
But Kim Jong Un also warned the communist state may be forced to seek “a new way” if Washington continues to press with economic sanctions aimed at punishing the regime for its nuclear weapons development.
Trump said later that he would be setting up a meeting with Kim “in the not-too-distant future” to restart talks about the North’s nuclear programs.
Kim Jong Un also said he would be looking to “achieve results” in any talks with Trump when he traveled to China for his fourth summit with President Xi Jinping.
The diplomatic surge that began last year has eased tensions on the divided peninsula after months of missile and nuclear tests and threats of war by both Kim and Trump.
The rapprochement will face another test in the spring when South Korea and the U.S. usually conduct annual joint war games known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
Several military exercises have been canceled or scaled back after Trump announced he was suspending them while negotiations with the North were underway.
North Korea hates the drills, which it considers a rehearsal for an invasion.
Last year, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Seoul and Washington would scale back the spring exercises to facilitate diplomacy, although he didn’t provide details.
