Mike Pompeo to give Kim Jong-un 'Rocket Man CD' during nuclear talks

US offers Elton John disc in light-hearted reference to Trump's infamous nickname for North Korean leader

Kim Jong-un will reportedly be handed an Elton John CD by Mike Pompeo containing the song ‘Rocket Man’ during crucial denuclearisation talks in Pyongyang.

The US secretary of state is expected to present the disc to the North Korean leader as a light-hearted reference to a time last year when tensions between the two countries came close to boiling over.

Donald Trump branded Mr Kim “rocket man” following a series of North Korean nuclear tests, which prompted the president to famously threaten the secretive communist state with “fire and fury like the world has never seen”.

Relations have improved drastically in the time since, and Mr Pompeo travelled to Pyongyang on Thursday to attempt to nail down details about the North’s denuclearisation plan which were agreed during a historic summit between the two leaders in June.

Mr Trump is thought to have asked Mr Pompeo to deliver the CD gift after the North Korean leader admitted at their meeting he had never heard the 1972 hit single.

“The Rocket Man CD was the subject of discussion during Trump’s lunch with Kim,” an unnamed diplomatic source in Washington told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

“Kim mentioned that Trump referred to him as ‘rocket man’ when tensions ran high last year. Trump then asked Kim if he knew the song and Kim said no.”

Mr Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang on Friday tasked with agreeing an action plan that can dispel growing scepticism over whether North Korea seriously intends to destroy its nuclear arsenal.

“Our leaders made commitments at the Singapore summit on the complete denuclearisation of North Korea and outlined what a transformed US-DPRK relationship could look like,” he said, according to comments relayed to reporters on his plane by spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

“On this trip I’m seeking to fill in some details on these commitments and continue the momentum towards implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world.

“I expect that the DPRK is ready to do the same.”

He arrived in Pyongyang hours after the country’s state-run media fired a warning shot at Washington over criticism of its human rights record.

A statement published on the government-run Uriminzokkiri website said the US should stop provoking the North with an “anachronistic human rights racket” at a time of diplomatic attempts to improve ties.

North Korea has been accused by outsiders of extensive crimes against humanity, with the government using extreme surveillance, coercion and punishment to prevent dissent.

As many as 120,000 people are believed to be held at the country’s massive prison camps, where inmates are held for political crimes such as criticising the government or attempting to escape to South Korea.

Human rights groups say inmates are subject to horrific conditions, including forced labour, torture and rape, with many eventually being executed.

Additional reporting by AP