Down to the Wire: U.S., North Korea Huddle in Singapore Ahead of Leaders’ Summit

Officials look to resolve differences before Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shake hands

Behind the modernized facade of Pyongyang, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un rules one of the world’s most repressive states. And he has proven to be far more brutal and strategic than anticipated. Photo Illustration: David Chan

SINGAPORE—Senior U.S. and North Korean officials huddled for last-minute negotiations Monday, trying to iron out differences ahead of a summit meeting between the two countries’ leaders, while America’s top diplomat said Washington’s position was “clear and unchanged.”

At the end of a day during which envoys from the two sides spent hours talking in a conference room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said talks were “moving quite rapidly” as President Donald Trump prepared to meet Kim Jong Un on...