MIKE POMPEO TO VISIT S. KOREA

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is said to visit Korea shortly after the Chuseok holiday. All eyes are on the purpose of Pompeo's upcoming visit just one month ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

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KBS has confirmed that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit South Korea in early October shortly after the Chuseok holiday. Multiple government and news sources say Seoul and Washington are currently discussing the details of Pompeo's planned trip. The most likely date of his visit is October 7. Sources say he plans to arrive at the U.S. air base in Osan for a two-day stay. As a high-ranking diplomat, Pompeo will be exempted from the mandatory two-week quarantine for overseas travelers. During his brief stay in Korea, the U.S. official is highly likely to pay a visit to President Moon Jae-in. After Korea, the U.S. secretary of state will fly over to Japan to meet with the new prime minister, Yoshihide Tsuga. Pompeo will be visiting Korea for the first time since October 2018, when Pyongyang-Washington talks were in full swing. He will likely deliver a message from Washington ahead of the end of President Trump's tenure and the upcoming presidential election. A Seoul official said the purpose of the visit is to express gratitude to South Korea for its diplomatic cooperation thus far and discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and the Korea-U.S. alliance. Pompeo is expected to stress the importance of collaboration among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan amid the intensifying conflict between Washington and Beijing. The South Korean government says the possibility of the U.S. officials contacting North Korea during Pompeo's visit is not very high. However, given that the U.S. presidential election is just 40 days away, attention is on whether the two sides have been holding negotiations behind closed doors.