The White House says it fully expects an unprecedented meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to take place, if North Korea sticks to its promises, even though Pyongyang has yet to comment publicly on the possibility of a summit.
A South Korean delegation that visited North Korea last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed a wish to meet Trump and South Korea's president to discuss denuclearisation. North Korean media have reported the South Korean visit, but no details of the talks.
Asked if the North Korean silence meant there was a chance the meeting between Trump and Kim would not take place, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: "We fully expect that it will.
"The offer was made and we've accepted. North Korea made several promises and we hope that they would stick to those promises and if so the meeting will go on as planned," she told a regular briefing.
Earlier, South Korea said North Korea's silence on summits with both the United States and South Korea was probably because of caution in preparing for the meetings, while US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington expected to hear directly from Pyongyang.
"We have not seen nor received an official response from the North Korean regime regarding the North Korea-US summit," said Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman for South Korea's Unification ministry.
"I feel they're approaching this matter with caution and they need time to organise their stance."
Tillerson said several steps would be necessary to agree on the location and scope of the talks, adding later that a "neutral" site would be needed.
News of possible talks has been a dramatic turnaround from fears of war over North Korea's development of nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.
