South Korean leaders announce unprecedented invitation for Trump to meet Kim Jong-un in North Korea

CNN

• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited President Donald Trump to a meeting and said his country would commit to halting its nuclear and missile tests.
• The announcement was delivered by South Korean officials who briefed US officials on their recent trip to North Korea.
• Trump is believed to have "appreciated the briefing" and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May "to achieve permanent denuclearization."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has invited President Donald Trump to a meeting and said his country would commit to stop nuclear and missile tests.

South Korean National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon arrived to Washington, DC this week to brief their counterpart, national security adviser H.R. McMaster on new diplomatic overtures from North Korea.

During the briefing, the South Korean officials reportedly delivered a personal letter from Kim Jong-un to the White House.

"Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization," Chung said on Thursday. "Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests."

"And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible," Chung continued.

Chung said Trump "appreciated the briefing" and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May "to achieve permanent denuclearization."

Earlier on Thursday, Trump teased that a "major announcement" would be made: ""Hopefully, you will give me credit," Trump said, according to ABC News journalist Meredith McGraw.

Trump has periodically indicated an openness to talks with North Korea "at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances."

Beginning in January, North Korea has made several diplomatic move to indicate a willingness to negotiate with the US and South Korea. Following their participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics, they've conducted several meetings with their South Korean counterparts.

"I think that they are sincere, but I think they are sincere also because the sanctions and what we're doing with respect to North Korea, including, you know, the great help that we've been given from China," Trump said on Tuesday, referring to a new set of US sanctions and China's growing role in enforcing them.

"I hope they are sincere. We're going to see and find out."

Kim Jong-un's verbal commitment to denuclearize may have fulfilled the US's precondition for the talks: "Our condition is denuclearization," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said to reporters in late February. "Our policy has not changed. We have talked about this policy since day one of this administration; and that's maximum pressure, but it's also the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

However, US officials have expressed caution to the notion of a meeting with North Korea. On Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was "a long ways from negotiations."

"I think it's - we just need to be very clear-eyed and realistic about it," Tillerson said during a press conference.