Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. and North Korea have already had direct talks at “extremely high levels”.

The U.S. has “started talking to North Korea directly,” Trump told reporters Tuesday after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to Bloomberg News.

“We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels with North Korea,” he added.

Trump also said he’s given South Korea his “blessing” to negotiate a peace deal with North Korea, and that five locations are under consideration for his meeting with the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

“They do have my blessing to discuss the end to the war,” the President was quoted as having said.

In March, Trump unexpectedly agreed to a meeting with Kim, to be held by the end of May.

Kim last week acknowledged for the first time his country’s contacts with the United States.

He has also indicated that he is willing to discuss denuclearization, according to reports.

Trump said on Tuesday he will meet with Kim in “early June or before that assuming things go well.”

“It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken,” he added.

The meeting between Trump and Kim was set after North Korea continued to conduct nuclear tests as it has been seeking to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

In the most recent of its ongoing missile tests, North Korea launched a Hwasong-15 missile, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which officials said can fly over 13,000 km (8,080 miles).

Pyongyang said following the launch that it had test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range, and also declared itself to be "a responsible nuclear power".