Trump: June 12 summit with Kim is back on
I think it’s going to be very successful, US President says
We’re going to deal, US President says after meeting a top North Korean official
President Donald Trump announced yesterday that the summit he had cancelled with North Korea’s leader will be held after all, the latest twist in a nuclear-edged diplomatic drama.
“The process will begin on June 12 in Singapore. I think it’s probably going to be a very successful, ultimately a successful process,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn after meeting with a senior North Korean official in the Oval Office.
Kim Yong-chol, a close aide to the North Korean leader, was the highest level figure from Pyongyang to hold talks at the White House since a senior envoy visited former president Bill Clinton in 2000.
Kim Yong delivered a personal letter from Kim to Trump.
After exchanging threats and insults since Trump became president last year, the US and North Korea have been trying to set up the summit. Trump wants to use the meeting to pressure Pyongyang into giving up its nuclear weapons.
The president rescheduled the get-together with Kim Jong-un barely a week after scrubbing it on the grounds that Kim’s government had shown “open hostility” towards his administration. In the days since, both sides worked to bridge the divide and proceed with the meeting.