State Department Confirms Silence from North Korea on Trump/Kim Meeting

Frances Martel, Breitbart News, March 23

image (with no caption) from article

Excerpt:

Two weeks after the White House announced that President Donald Trump would accept an invitation to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in person by May, the State Department confirmed that they have not heard any word from Pyongyang on planning that summit.

North Korean state media has not published the news of the agreement, meaning the average North Korean is not aware that their leader invited President Trump to meet while both nations remain technically at war.

Speaking to reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman and acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] and Public Affairs Heather Nauert confirmed that the department was not in contact with their analogs in North Korea. She noted, however, that the government of South Korea was planning a meeting of high-level officials with the North, and American officials expected to receive more information about the Trump-Kim summit from that engagement. The invitation to Trump arrived following the conclusion of a diplomatic visit to Pyongyang by senior South Korean officials.

“I can tell you … that South Korea and North Korea are planning to have a meeting ahead of our summit, which—we have not announced any dates yet at this point,” Nauert explained. “They’re planning to have a meeting. We are in close coordination with the South Koreans and the Japanese, for that matter, about all of these meetings and all of these talks.”

Nauert did not confirm or deny reports that a three-way summit with North Korea and South Korea was possible, instead stating, “We’re still going under the operating premise that we will be meeting with North Korea.”

Asked specifically whether any direct communications had arrived from North Korea, Nauert said, “Not at this point, not at this point. I don’t have anything for you on that. I’ll let you know.”

Pressed on whether a summit of such magnitude could occur in the next two months without communication, Nauert lamented, “This is just complicated diplomacy … that’s just the way it works.” ...