Date and place set for US talks with North Korea

US President Donald Trump on Friday said the date and location had been set for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Meanwhile, South Korea said it would oppose US troops being withdrawn from the area.

The White House has said the first meeting between sitting US and North Korean leaders could take place in the coming weeks, and Mr Trump is expected to push North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

Singapore and the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea are among the top choices being considered for the summit. Mr Trump this week expressed a preference for the zone but said Singapore was possible.

The White House announced that Mr Trump will meet Mr Moon at the White House on May 22, in a show of unity before the summit with Mr Kim.

Mr Moon’s visit was announced after the US National Security Adviser, John Bolton, met his South Korean equivalent Chung Eui-yong at the White House on Friday.

Mr Chung said afterward that it was “unacceptable that the issue of US forces in Korea keeps being raised”.

The New York Times said Mr Trump had asked the Pentagon for options on withdrawing troops, although he denied the newspaper story.

“Now, I have to tell you, at some point into the future, I would like to save the money,” Mr Trump said. “But troops are not on the table.”

Mr Bolton and Mr Chung said there was no plan to change the US-South Korea defence policy, the White House stated late on Friday.

Mr Trump told the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Dallas on Friday that he had toned down his speech after calling Mr Kim “Little Rocket Man” last year and threatening him with “fire and fury”.

“I won’t use the rhetoric now,” he said. “Now I’m trying to calm it down a little.”

The US government is studying reports that three Americans arrested in recent years in North Korea had been moved from a labour camp to a hotel near Pyongyang, as expectations grow that they will be released before the summit.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Thursday that if North Korea were to free the three Americans, “we certainly would see this as a sign of good will” before the summit.

Mr Trump said: “We’re having very substantive talks with North Korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the hostages. I think you’re going to see very good things.”

South Korea said it would oppose US troops being withdrawn from the area