2018.05.2721:37:00UTC+00U.S. Officials in North Korea to Lay Groundwork for Summit: Trump

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a U.S. team had entered North Korea to get ready for a proposed summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which Trump withdrew from last week before reconsidering.

The statement raised hopes that the Singapore summit between the two leaders could still take place despite days of diplomatic up and downs.

Trump, who called off his face-to-face meeting with Kim, tweeted on Sunday that the US delegation has arrived in the isolated country to make preparations for the summit. He added that he is optimistic about North Korea's economic and financial prospect, claiming his bright vision will come true.

Aside from the talks, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said a “pre-advanced team” has travelled to Singapore, where the meeting is expected to take place, on Sunday morning to lay the groundwork for logistics.

Earlier on Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he and North Korea's Kim had reached an agreement during an unplanned meeting on Saturday that the North Korea-U.S. summit must take place. The South Korean leader also said that Kim has restated his commitment to the “complete” denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Moon avoided queries regarding what denuclearization would mean.

North Korea has been hit with hefty and years of economic sanctions over its nuclear and missiles programs since it began its nuclear testing in 2006. The U.S. has experienced difficulty to curb the country's weapons program, which has become a top security issue for Washington.

Moon said Pyongyang and Washington may have varying expectations of what denuclearization means and he called on both sides to undertake working-level discussions to resolve their differences.