The right-hand man of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to meet this week with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — and possibly even President Donald Trump — as deadlocked denuclearization talks look to get a fresh injection of momentum.

Senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, Pompeo's counterpart, was heading for Washington on Thursday and Friday for discussions on the agenda and venue for a second meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders, multiple South Korean media reports said, citing diplomatic sources.

Asked about the prospect of Kim Yong Chol visiting Washington for the second time in less than a year, the U.S. State Department demurred, telling The Japan Times that it did not have any meetings to announce.