Xi, Kim meet in Beijing
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Beijing after talking and dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to South Korean media, in a show of unity as they engage in delicate negotiations with President Donald Trump’s administration.
Mr. Kim spent a little more than a day in the Chinese capital and was en route to Pyongyang by 2 p.m. Wednesday local time, Yonhap News Agency of South Korea reported, citing unidentified officials. His delegation was seen off by high-ranking Chinese officials and an honor guard at a Beijing train station and could return to North Korea as soon as Thursday morning, Yonhap said.
The trip — Mr. Kim’s fourth to China since March — suggests negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear arsenal are gaining momentum after months without high-level diplomatic exchanges. Mr. Trump is seeking a second summit with Mr. Kim to re-energize talks that have made little headway since their first meeting in June, saying Sunday a date would be announced “in the not-too-distant future.”
Mr. Kim spoke with Mr. Xi for about an hour Tuesday night, discussing ways to strengthen their ties and lay out strategy for a potential summit between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump, Yonhap reported.
Iran detains American
Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday that it has detained a U.S. Navy veteran who was arrested last summer when he went to the country to visit his girlfriend.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made Iran’s first acknowledgment that it is holding Michael White, 46, of San Diego, according to a report in the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
“An American citizen was arrested in the city of Mashhad some time ago, and his case was conveyed to the U.S. administration on first days,” he said.
Mr. White’s arrest was first reported by IranWire, an online venture focusing on Iran news reported by the Iranian diaspora. It remains unclear what, if any, charges have been brought against him.
Pompeo visits Iraq
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Wednesday, meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, Kurdish officials and other leaders in a bid to demonstrate the United States’ support for a key ally.
Mr. Pompeo’s visit is part of a Middle East tour in which the secretary is seeking to reassure U.S. partners in the region following President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Mr. Pompeo is promising allies that the troops’ departure will not alter the U.S. mission to push back against Iran and oversee the complete defeat of the Islamic State, a prospect many in the region are now questioning.
His stop in Baghdad came amid speculation among Iraqi officials that the White House will also begin to draw down the 5,200 American forces based in Iraq in view of the military defeat of the Islamic State in late 2017.
Mr. Pompeo said that he discussed Mr. Trump’s decision on Syria with the Iraqi leaders but that the focus of the meetings was on strengthening Iraq’s government.