Mike Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state pick, met with Kim Jong Un

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who was recently nominated to be the new secretary of state, traveled to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un, the Washington Post reported late on Tuesday.

The confidential visit was aimed at laying the groundwork for upcoming discussions between President Donald Trump and Kim, the newspaper said.

Nyshka Chandran
Published 15 Mins Ago CNBC.com

Ahead of a widely anticipated summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with the dictator earlier this month, the Washington Post reported.

The face-to-face meeting between Pompeo, who was recently nominated to be the new secretary of state, and Kim took place in North Korea over the Easter weekend and marks the highest-level sit-down between the two countries since 2000, the Washington Post said.

Reuters subsequently reported that a senior U.S. official had confirmed Pompeo and Kim's meeting.

The purpose of Pompeo's confidential trip was to lay the groundwork for upcoming discussions between Trump and Kim, the Post reported, citing two unnamed sources.

Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said his country had direct talks with the reclusive regime "at very high levels," a potential reference to Pompeo's visit. The president added that, while he hoped the summit with Kim would take place, he also said it may not happen.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Concrete details about the high-stakes negotiations over the rogue state's nuclear weapons program, slated for May or June, remain unknown.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/mike...im-summit.html