Donald Trump accepts offers to meet N Korea President Kim Jong Un

"He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined," CNN quoted White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders as saying.

The talks to be held in May would be unprecedented being  the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The move is a major breakthrough in world geopolitics, particularly in the light of both the countries issuing threats to each other with nuclear arsenal.

CNN said South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong,  delivered the invitation to Trump after a visit by his delegation to Pyongyang earlier this week. Chung said Kim had offered to put Pyongyang's nuclear and missile program on the table.

The South Korean delegation, which landed in Washington, D.C. for a debriefing Thursday on the North-South talks, was careful to praise Trump's influence over the developments. Chung said the US President's "leadership" and his administration's pressure on the North Korean regime had "brought us to this juncture," CNN reported.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump "greatly appreciates the nice words" of the delegation and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined. We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain."

Trump tweeted that "great progress" had been made but there would be no prospect of lifting sanctions until a deal was reached.