Jimmy Panetta visits Korea to assess likelihood of peace.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, visited the Korean Peninsula over Memorial Day weekend as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that coincided with a surprise May 26 summit between North Korean and South Korean leaders.

A statement from Panetta's office says the trip's purpose was "to see firsthand what the situation is on the Peninsula and at the demilitarized zone.

"[Panetta] wanted to obtain a sense for the chance of a summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un and, ultimately, peace on the Korean Peninsula."

During the trip, Panetta's delegation visited the DMZ, as well as met with South Korean military leaders and diplomats and Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. forces in the country.

Panetta also met with American troops stationed in Korea, as well as visited the National Korean War Memorial.

Following the trip, on May 29, NBC News reported that a new U.S. intelligence assessment concluded North Korea is likely unwilling to give up its nuclear weapons any time soon.

Reportedly, the assessment was circulating just days before Trump abruptly cancelled his planned June 12 summit with Kim in Singapore.

The assessment, according to NBC's report, also stated that Kim "might consider offering to open a Western hamburger franchise in Pyongyang as a show of goodwill."

Shortly after NBC's story was published, Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, tweeted, "Kim: 'I keep the nukes and you give me Five Guys.'"