White House declares optimism on Kim talks
WASHINGTON – The White House on Wednesday declared itself “cautiously optimistic” that the planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place sometime in May, even as key details such as where Kim will meet with President Donald Trump, and the parameters of their talks, remain undetermined.
“We feel like things are moving in the right direction,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
The Trump administration was initially thrown off balance when China announced late Tuesday that it had held its own summit with Kim this week, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with internal diplomatic discussions.
Amid debates about whether the Chinese move was good or bad for U.S. aims, administration officials ultimately decided to declare it a positive result of its “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea.
But Beijing’s failure to officially inform the United States until after its talks with Kim were over and he had departed for Pyongyang aboard his armored People watch a news program on TV reporting about the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday.
train was another indication of the uncertainties that still surround Trump’s North Korea gambit.
The president said on Twitter early Wednesday that he had received a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping late Tuesday that the meeting with Kim “went very well and that KIM looks forward to his meeting with me.”
A State Department spokesman said that the “personal message” from Xi was conveyed as part of a briefing the White House received from the Chinese government after the visit.
It remained unclear whether the administration has received a direct confirmation from North
Korea about the proposed Trump-kim summit. Kim’s invitation to meet was conveyed to the White House by South Korea early this month, and Trump quickly accepted.
As far as the administration is concerned, State Department spokesman Justin Higgins said, the messages conveyed by Seoul and Beijing are enough confirmation to begin planning.
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said he is committed to denuclearization, pledged to refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests, and understands routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea [South Korea] and the United States will continue,” Higgins said. “Kim also expressed his desire to meet with President Trump as soon as possible.
“In light of this, President Trump has accepted Kim Jong Un’s offer to meet in person.”
Trump’s national security staff, with his newly designated national security adviser and secretary of state not yet in place, has held a series of discussions on the upcoming summit, but senior officials said even the most basic questions have not been answered.
No decision has been made among a number of options for the location of the meeting, including the Peace House in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, or countries such as Sweden that maintain diplomatic relations with both North Korea and the U.S.
While some experts have suggested Beijing, a senior administration official said that was likely to be unacceptable to the White House because the location is “a major espionage risk, for starters.” Official U.S. visitors to China assume that their conversations, movements and private meetings are monitored, and that all of their bags are thoroughly searched.