Signs US-North Korea summit could be back on after talks
The two Korean leaders met for impromptu talks at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s request, South Korean President Moon Jae in said.
The two leaders discussed their hopes for a US-North Korea summit and their commitment to a denuclearised peninsula, North and South Korean officials said.
Moon said he “wholeheartedly accepted” Kim’s request to talk in person, and underscored the significance of the two leaders recognising their need for communication and swiftly arrang- ing a meeting without formalities. “We agreed to communicate and meet frequently in the future as necessary,” Moon said in a briefing yesterday.
The rapidly arranged meeting between the two countries reflects how urgently the two leaders are trying to salvage the US-North Korea summit, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.
US President Donald Trump on Friday cancelled his meeting with Kim. He later said, however, that both sides are “having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating” it, leav- ing the door open for further negotiation, and the North Korean Government has said that Kim is ready to talk to Trump “at any time.”
Yesterday, Trump again sounded a note of optimism, saying of discussions, “It’s moving along very nicely. So we’re looking at June 12 in Singapore. That hasn’t changed. And it’s moving along pretty well. So we’ll see what happens.”
Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said after the KimMoon meeting that a White House team, led by deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, still plans to travel to Singapore to make arrangements for the summit.
Moon and Kim met at Panmunjom, the truce village in the demilitarised zone and the site of their first meeting in April, the first inter-Korean summit since 2007. The two met on the northern side of the line.
North Korea’s state media reported after the meeting that Kim expressed his “fixed will” for a “historic” summit between North Korea and the US.