WASHINGTON _ In a bid to revive efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear arsenal, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is scheduled to return to Pyongyang on Sunday for meetings with the country's leader, Kim Jong Un.
The State Department said Pompeo will also make stops in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing in a three-day trip to northeast Asia that starts Saturday.
Japan, South Korea and China are the other major players in diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear infrastructure and weapons.
President Donald Trump canceled Pompeo's last scheduled trip to Pyongyang _ his fourth this year _ in late August after a senior North Korean official sent a letter indicating another visit would not be successful.
U.S. officials have not reported any substantive actions by North Korea to stop production of fissile material since then, but Trump said he was encouraged by another letter from Kim.
On Saturday, Trump told a rally in West Virginia that he and Kim "fell in love," citing the North Korean leader's "beautiful letters" after their June summit in Singapore.
"I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth," Trump said. "And then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they're great letters. We fell in love."
