A spate of reports detailing apparent efforts by North Korea to expand its nuclear arsenal are likely to put pressure on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he makes his third visit to Pyongyang later this week to flesh out the details of a plan for the North to relinquish its weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The White House said Monday that Pompeo would depart for Pyongyang on Thursday after media reports and research suggested that the North may not intend to fully give up its arsenal.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the U.S. and North Korea were "continuing to make progress" in their nuclear negotiations, but refused to comment on intelligence reports that Pyongyang was not adhering to its commitment to work toward denuclearizing.