U.S. and North Korean officials continued talks on Monday to fine-tune the wording of a joint statement that will be announced after the historic summit between their leaders on Tuesday. 

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim and North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui held three rounds of meetings on Monday, including an evening meeting which lasted for over an hour from around 10 p.m. local time.

Returning to the Shangri-la Hotel around midnight, Kim told reporters that the work has not yet been done. 

The two sides were reportedly putting final touches on the wording of the statement regarding how to dismantle the North Korea's nuclear weapons and provide the North security assurances. They are also known to have worked to narrow differences on contentious issues, including on whether to include the term "complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization," or CVID, in the statement. 

In a briefing for White House correspondents in Singapore on Monday, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said CVID is the only outcome the U.S. can accept in negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program.

[Photo : YONHAP News]