Pyongyang tells the White House that it is willing to talk

US President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, could meet in May. Photo / AP file

North Korea has confirms to the White House that it is willing to talk about denuclearisation, Trump Administration officials say.

The confirmation offers the Administration greater assurances that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is committed to a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump by the end of next month.

South Korean emissaries, in a visit to the White House last month, had presented Kim's invitation to meet with Trump, who quickly agreed.

But Pyongyang has been silent publicly since then about a summit.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that the North has confirmed the offer to the United States.

Trump said last month that he was willing to have the historic meeting with Kim and instructed his aides to arrange it before the end of May.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to make a two-day visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the President's resort near Palm Beach, Florida, to coordinate strategy between the allies.

South Korean President Moon Jae In plans to meet Kim at the end of April in the demilitarised zone between the North and South.

White House officials have not said where the Trump-Kim summit will be held. CNN reported that it could be in the Mongolian capital. Ulaanbaatar

"The North Koreans are pushing to have the meeting in their capital, Pyongyang, the sources said, although it is unclear whether the White House would be willing to hold the talks there," CNN reported.

The agenda of the meeting is not yet known, and North Korea has not been clear about what steps it is willing to take to move toward denuclearisation.

During previous negotiations under different US administrations, the North has agreed to freeze its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions, only to violate the agreement by testing more weapons.