Pompeo may visit N. Korea this week or next: S. Korean lawmaker

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may visit North Korea this weekend or next week in an effort to implement the outcome of last week's summit between the U.S. and the North, a South Korean opposition lawmaker said Thursday.

Park Jie-won, a four-term lawmaker of the Party for Democracy and Peace, told a radio program that Pompeo's trip appears to have been delayed due to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's third trip to China.

Kim visited China on Tuesday and Wednesday for his third summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in about three months, following his June 12 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore.

"But (a follow-up meeting between the U.S. and the North) is expected to accelerate probably this weekend or next week," Park said.

It is not known whether his claim is backed by credible information.

In 2000, Park, former President Kim Dae-jung's chief of staff, had a secret meeting with North Korean officials in China to prepare for the first-ever inter-Korean summit.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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