Pyongyang,

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump would be positive towards easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang state media reported on Thursday. Kim made the remark to visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. During the meeting with Pompeo, Kim described the planned summit as “historic” and “the excellent first step towards promotion of the positive situation development in the Korean peninsula and building of a good future”. This was Pompeo’s second visit to the Asian country after his secret trip over Easter, when he also met with Kim, to finalise preparations for the summit, reports Efe news. “At the meeting, an in-depth discussion was made on the practical matters for holding the North Korea-US summit and its procedure and ways. Kim Jong-un reached a satisfactory consensus on the issues discussed with the US state secretary,” Yonhap News Agency quoted KCNA as saying. This is the first time that the North Korean leader officially spoke of the meeting with Trump, which has been scheduled for the end of May or the beginning of June and will be the first meeting in history between the heads of government of the two countries. KCNA said Kim also “accepted an official suggestion of the US President for the release of Americans who have been detained” and gave an order “on granting amnesty to them for their repatriation”. The three Americans–Kim Dong-chul, 64, Kim Sang-duk, 58, and Kim Hak-song, around 60–who had been held prisoners in North Korea, were all born in South Korea but later acquired the US citizenship. Pompeo also delivered Kim a “verbal message” from Trump, adding Kim highly appreciated that the US President had shown “deep interest in settling the issue through dialogue”. Details of Trump’s message were not disclosed. The North’s media covered Wednesday’s meeting extensively.