Trump offers support to North-South Korea talks
PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Donald Trump began meetings with the leader of Japan on Tuesday by saying he supports talks by North and South Korea to formally end a state of war that has lasted more than six decades.
“They do have my blessing to discuss the end of the war,” Trump said after welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his Mar-a-Lago estate for talks that center on trade as well as efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
“We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea,” the president said. He did not say whether he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke.
With Abe at his side, Trump repeated that he plans to meet with Kim — perhaps in early June — but raised the possibility the summit might be called off because of a lack of agreement over an agenda.
“It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings, and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken,” said Trump, who lobbied China and other countries to cut off economic assistance to North Korea until it gives up nuclear weapons.
The Trump-Abe summit began hours after reports that North and South Korea are negotiating a statement to formally end the war that began in 1950; the two nations ended that conflict with a truce in 1953.