WASHINGTON — North Korean officials have told their US counterparts that Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss denuclearisation, an assurance that could pave the way for a meeting with President Donald Trump, reports said on Sunday.

It is the first time the offer was made directly to Washington, after it was reviously conveyed through South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong.

"The US has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," a Trump administration official told The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post on Sunday.

Washington stunned observers when it announced last month it had agreed to a historic first meeting between Trump and Kim to be held by the end of May.

But Pyongyang has not followed up with Washington since, which the Journal suggested may indicate that Seoul overstated the North’s willingness to negotiate over its own nuclear arsenal.

No specifics have yet emerged concerning the date or venue of the proposed summit. — AFP