It appears as though the United States and North Korea are creeping ever closer to finalizing their highly anticipated summit.
This,... after President Trump confirmed that his CIA director and pick for Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, recently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
In a tweet on Wednesday,... President Trump confirmed that Mike Pompeo held talks with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang over the Easter weekend,... adding that the 'meeting went very smoothly' and that 'a good relationship was formed'.
After a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida,... Trump praised the CIA Director for his successful meeting with the North Korean leader.

"I think Mike Pompeo will go down as one of the great secretary of states. And by the way, he just left North Korea, had a great meeting with Kim Jong Un, and got along with him really well, really great. And he's that kind of a guy, he's very smart but he gets along with people."

His remarks were in line with his tweet, where Trump hinted at the summit's ultimate goal,... saying that "Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea."
The confirmation from the president and the White House of Pompeo's trip comes after Trump said a day before that the U.S. and North Korea have had direct talks "at very high levels."
Observers say the visit also shows President Trump's trust in Pompeo,... who awaits Senate confirmation to succeed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.
Despite Republican Senator Rand Paul's opposition to Pompeo's nomination, due to his past support for military intervention overseas,... President Trump remains confident Pompeo will soon be America's top diplomat.

"I will say this about Rand Paul. He's never let me down. Rand Paul is a very special guy, as far as I'm concerned. He's never let me down. And I don't think he'll let us down again. So let's see what happens. If you remember, he voted for health care, and he did us a big favor, it was somebody else that voted against it that it hurt us. So I have a lot of confidence in Rand, but I also have a great deal of confidence in Mike Pompeo."

With the recent rosy atmosphere,... combined with the upcoming 2018 inter-Korean summit,... many hope a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula is just an arm's reach away.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.