Report: CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret trip to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

Mike Pompeo.
(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Over Easter weekend, CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a covert visit to North Korea on behalf of President Trump and met with Kim Jong Un, two people with direct knowledge of the trip told The Washington Post.

Pompeo's top-secret visit with the North Korean leader was an effort to lay the groundwork for a summit between Trump and Kim regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Post reports. The meeting was held soon after Trump nominated Pompeo to be secretary of state, replacing Rex Tillerson, and about a week later, U.S. officials said the government had directly confirmed that Kim was willing to discuss possible denuclearization.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.