Trump sends Kim invite for DMZ meetup on visit
OSAKA, Japan — President Donald Trump said Saturday he would visit the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea on Sunday, and he publicly invited Kim Jong Un, the North’s iron-fisted leader, to meet him for what would be their third get-together.
In a post on Twitter as he started the second of two days of meetings in Osaka, Trump said during his next stop, in South Korea, he would be happy to greet Kim across the line that has divided Korea for nearly 75 years.
“… I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon),” the tweet said. “While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!”
North Korea indicated Saturday it would welcome such a meeting.
“I consider this a very interesting suggestion, but we have not received any official proposal,” Choe Son-hui, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, said in a brief statement carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency.
“I believe that if a North KoreaU.S. summit is realized on the line dividing Korea, as President Trump wishes, it will become another opportunity to deepen the friendship that exists between the two heads of state and to improve relations of the two nations,” Choe said.
Trump’s tweet caught the diplomatic corps in Asia and the president’s own advisers off balance, because the last meeting between the two leaders, in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February, ended in dramatic failure, and no further substantive talks have taken place. No serious preparations have been made for an encounter Sunday.
He told reporters Saturday’s tweet was spontaneous.
“I just thought of it this morning,” he said. “We’ll be there, and I just put out a feeler.”
In reality, he had been toying with the idea for days. The Hill, a Capitol Hill news organization, reported Saturday after his tweet Trump had signaled his interest in the idea during an interview Monday, saying he “might” try to meet with Kim during an already planned but secret trip to the DMZ. The White House asked that his comment not be reported because of security concerns.
Trump flew to Seoul late Saturday afternoon and was to have dinner with President Moon Jae-in, a strong proponent of diplomacy with North Korea.
Moon’s office issued a statement supporting more contact with Kim without confirming any meeting this weekend.
“Nothing has been decided, but our position remains unchanged that we want dialogue to happen between North Korea and the U.S.,” the statement said.