U.S. TEAM STILL PREPS FOR SUMMIT

White House officials go to Singapore, signaling chance that meeting may happen

White House officials head to Singapore, signaling that a meeting still might happen.

SEOUL» A White House team is heading to Singapore this weekend as previously planned to prepare for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, a further sign that the meeting Trump called off might get back on track.

Trump on Friday welcomed the North’s conciliatory response to his letter withdrawing from the June 12 meeting and said it was even possible the meeting with Kim Jong Un could take place on the originally planned date.

“They very much want to do it; we’d like to do it,” he said. Trump later tweeted that the two countries were “having very productive talks.”

On Saturday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said a team will leave for Singapore as scheduled “to prepare should the summit take place.” The team will be led by Joe Hagin, deputy chief of staff for operations.

These developments, combined with a surprise meeting Saturday between Kim and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, rekindled hopes of progress toward halting the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Meeting at a border truce village, Kim and Moon discussed carrying out the peace commitments they reached in their first summit, as well as Kim’s potential meeting with Trump, Moon’s office said. Moon was expected Sunday to reveal the outcome of the meeting.

White House officials noted that Trump had left the door open with Thursday’s letter to Kim, which blamed “tremendous anger and open hostility” by Pyongyang for his decision to pull out of the summit but also urged Kim to call him.

By Friday, North Korea had issued a statement saying it was still “willing to give the U.S. time and opportunities” to reconsider talks “at any time, at any format.” Trump rapidly tweeted that the statement was “very good news” and told reporters that “we’re talking to them now.”

Trump views the meeting as a legacy-defining opportunity and has relished the press attention and the speculation about a possible Nobel Peace Prize.

He made a quick decision to accept the meeting in March, over the concerns of many top aides, and has remained committed, even amid rising concerns about the challenges he faces in scoring a positive agreement.

The U.S. and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations.