US and North Korean officials are doing everything they can to get Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un around the same table, with pressure mounting on the two to reach a peace deal.

High-ranking officials from both countries have met for peace talks in New York.

The North Korean delegation is now travelling to Washington, to present Trump with a letter from Kim himself.

Council of Foreign Relations Korea expert Scott Snyder told Mike Hosking the two sides are making rapid major strides, through a kind of "microwave" diplomacy.

"They're trying to grapple with differences on the nuclear issue between the US and North Korea in a matter of days on an issue that has stood between the two countries for decades," he said.

Trump is making a Korean deal a top priority of his presidential term.

But Snyder said Kim is also under pressure to get a deal signed.

"The bigger challenge may in fact be the revolution of rising expectations inside North Korea in the fact that most North Korean elites want their children to be businessmen," he said.

 LISTEN ABOVE: Scott Snyder talks to Mike Hosking