Anchor: With reports from Bloomberg and CNN indicating North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is willing to discuss denuclearization with the U.S. and direct preparatory talks are already under way between the two nations, signs appear positive ahead of the upcoming Pyongyang-Washington summit. However, another report claims that Kim is demanding firm security guarantees and rewards from the U.S. as a precondition to his country abandoning its nuclear weapons. 
Alannah Hill has this report.  

Report: The U.S. has reportedly confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is willing to talk to U.S. President Donald Trump about dismantling the North's nuclear weapons.

Bloomberg issued the report on Monday quoting a U.S. administration official. It said the fact that the U.S. has confirmed North Korea’s willingness to even discuss denuclearization is a positive step toward the Trump-Kim meeting actually taking place, and suggests they are communicating directly in preparation for it.

The article came on the heels of a CNN report that the U.S. and North Korea have been holding secret, direct talks to prepare for the summit. 

CNN said that Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, tapped as Trump's new secretary of state, has been working through intelligence back-channels to prepare for the summit.

In line with the reports, a senior South Korean presidential official told reporters on Monday that as far as the top office knows, the U.S.-North Korea contact is proceeding smoothly. 

Meanwhile, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Sunday that Kim Jong-un has said he wants a firm security guarantee from the United States as a precondition for his country to abandon its nuclear weapons.

The daily reported that Kim made the comment during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, citing a diplomatic source familiar with the meeting.

During the summit with Xi, Kim is known to have said that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be reached if South Korea and the United States take "phased and simultaneous steps for peace."
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News. 

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