Thread: Trump: Date and location for Kim summit 'hasn't changed'

Trump: Date and location for Kim summit 'hasn't changed'

By James Griffiths and Sophie Jeong, CNN
Updated 11:09 PM ET, Sat May 26, 2018

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)US President Donald Trump seemed to revive hopes for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, telling reporters at the Oval Office late Saturday, "we're looking at June 12th in Singapore. That hasn't changed."

His remarks came as South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered his first public comments since a surprise meeting with the North Korean leader on Saturday, saying Kim was still committed to denuclearization.

"What is unclear to Chairman Kim Jong Un is not the will for denuclearization, but the concern that if (North Korea) denuclearizes, whether the US can end hostile relations and guarantee the security of the (Kim) regime," Moon said.

On Thursday, Trump abruptly canceled the highly-anticipated US-North Korea summit, scheduled for June 12, citing hostile comments from top North Korean officials and concern about the country's commitment to giving up its nuclear weapons.

Moon said Sunday that practical talks will be held between the US and North Korea "very soon," and the outcome of those talks will dictate if the June 12 summit will go ahead. He added that he expected the practical talks and summit to go "very smoothly."

Trump said there was a "lot of goodwill" for the meeting. "A lot of people are working on it. It's moving along very nicely."

Experts were more skeptical however. CNN global affairs analyst Joseph Yun said a joint declaration of some sort on June 12 was far more likely, given the short time period to iron out differences before Trump and Kim sit down together.

"Let's be realistic. These summits take months not weeks to prepare," he said.

Many North Korea watchers have previously warned that things have been moving too fast, and urged Washington to hold more preparatory meetings in the run up to a formal summit.

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in talk during a meeting at the northern side of the Panmunjom in North Korea. It was their second face-to-face meeting.

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in talk during a meeting at the northern side of the Panmunjom in North Korea. It was their second face-to-face meeting.

Key US allies 'perplexed' as Trump treats friends like enemies

Surprise meeting

The South Korean President met Kim on the North side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas late Saturday. Their last meeting on April 27 was held on the South side.

During his meeting with Kim, Moon said the North Korean leader "once again has made clear his will for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and expressed his intent to settle the history of war and confrontation, and to cooperate for peace and prosperity through the success of the North Korea-US summit."

Moon said on Sunday: "Our journey to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a permanent peace agreement cannot be stopped, and we have decided to cooperate closely."

Moon also suggested a US-North Korean hotline could be opened in future, and possibly a three-way hotline with South Korea, though he said a trilateral summit should be held first.

"I hope if the NK-US summit is successful, through the three-way summit, we can declare the end of the war," Moon said.

In a statement Sunday released before Moon spoke, North Korean state media said the meeting took place "all of a sudden."

North Korea informed its own people of the meeting between Moon and Kim, with reports in state-run media hailing a "new era of reconciliation and unity."

Moon apologized to South Korean media Sunday for the delay in releasing details about the meeting, saying he had done so at the North Korean leader's request, in order to let Kim tell his country first.

"Panmunjom, the historical land which had once come under global spotlights as a symbol of peace for making a new start of the north-south relations and opening up a new era of reconciliation and unity, witnessed the significant meeting between the top leaders of the north and the south once again after 29 days," North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

KCNA said Moon signed the visitors' book in Thongil House where the meeting took place, writing ""Peace and Prosperity of the Korean Peninsula, together with Chairman Kim Jong Un."

"At the talks there were in-depth exchanges of opinions to tackle the matters which should be resolved to quickly carry out the Panmunjom Declaration agreed upon at the third North-South summit and to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and achieve regional peace, stability and prosperity," KCNA said.

The Panmunjom Declaration was the result of the first meeting between Moon and Kim in April, and committed the two countries to denuclearization of the Peninsula and talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.

Kim thanked Moon "for much effort made by him" towards the US-North Korea summit, and said he hoped to improve relations with Washington and "establish mechanism for permanent and durable peace."

Photos of Kim and Moon embracing and shaking hands also appeared on the Sunday front page of state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

Singapore summit called off

In a tweet Friday, Trump had said "very productive talks" were continuing on the North Korean summit.

"We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date," Trump wrote.

Moon, who has been a mediator between Trump and Kim, called an emergency meeting in the middle of the night Thursday after Trump called off the June summit in a letter to Kim.

North Korea had indicated it wasn't happy with the way things were progressing when it called of high level talks with South Korea over joint US-South Korean military drills.

US officials said the final straw for Trump came when a North Korean Foreign Ministry official called Vice President Mike Pence a "political dummy" and hinted that Pyongyang was ready for a "nuclear showdown" should diplomacy fail.

The US also claimed in a background briefing that North Korean officials had failed to show up in Singapore to arrange logistics for the June meeting.

But a North Korean Foreign Ministry official said Friday that Kim was still willing to meet with Trump "at any time."

CNN's Jennifer Hauser and Joe Ruiz contributed reporting.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/26/asia/...ntl/index.html

"What is unclear to Chairman Kim Jong Un is not the will for denuclearization, but the concern that if (North Korea) denuclearizes, whether the US can end hostile relations and guarantee the security of the (Kim) regime," Moon said.

Of course we can. Problem solved.

PEACE TREATY NOW!!

Trump optimistic about North Korea summit as Moon, Kim hold surprise meeting

By Elizabeth Zwirz | Fox News
4 hours ago

President Donald Trump on Saturday said talks regarding a possible summit with North Korea were “going along very well,” just days after he canceled next month’s highly anticipated meeting with the rogue nation.

“We’re doing very well in terms of the summit with North Korea,” Trump said at the White House after welcoming home Joshua Holt, who returned to the U.S. on Saturday after being incarcerated in a Venezuelan jail. “Looks like it’s going along very well.”
American imprisoned in Venezuela reunites with his family.

Trump said meetings were ongoing and they were still “looking at June 12 in Singapore, that hasn’t changed.”

He added that if “it would be a great thing” if they were “successful in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The president’s remarks followed a surprise meeting Saturday between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during which the pair agreed their countries would have “high-level talks” next month and Kim “expressed his fixed will” on meeting with Trump, according to Yonhap News.

South Korea's Moon Jae-in met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone.

On Sunday, Moon told reporters that Kim committed to meeting with Trump and to a "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the Associated Press reported.

Moon said he assured Kim that Trump has a "firm resolve" to end hostile relations with North Korea and initiate economic coooperation if Kim implements "complete denuclearization."

The two Korean leaders met on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone in the village of Panmunjom to discuss peace commitments made during their historic first summit last month. They also reportedly talked “frankly” about how they could make the potential summit between Kim and Trump a success.

The meeting came hours after South Korea expressed relief over revived talks for a summit between Trump and Kim following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw the U.S. president cancel the meeting.

"Kim Jong-un thanked Moon Jae-in for much effort made by him for the DPRK-U.S. summit scheduled for June 12, and expressed his fixed will on the historic DPRK-U.S. summit talks," Yonhap reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in to positively cooperate with each other as ever to improve the DPRK-U.S. relations and establish mechanism for permanent and durable peace.”

The leaders of the neighboring countries said they would hold “high-level talks” on June 1 and also promised to “meet frequently in the future to make dialogue brisk and pool wisdom and efforts, expressing their stand to make joint efforts for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Yonhap reported.

The talks between North and South Korea was initially supposed to occur earlier this month until it was called off by the North, citing military exercises conducted by the South and the U.S.

Prior to Kim and Moon’s meeting, Trump suggested that his summit with North Korea may still go ahead.

“We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date,” Trump tweeted.

Fox News’ Kathleen Joyce and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...e-meeting.html

I think the two Koreas would like to reunify and that is the tie that binds them as much as anything. I also think North Korea would like to be a US-aligned and ally country instead of one aligned with/either China or Russia.

For 70 years they've watched the miracles of Japan and South Korea, right there in their backyards. It can be the same for them if they're aligned with US. They know that. What they didn't know was how the US really felt about them, and I believe President Trump better than anyone ever has expressed the real facts and truth to them about this.

We harbor no ill will towards North Korea unless they are threatening US or our Allies. We've wished all these years that the division of Korea hadn't happened and could have somehow been avoided, but it wasn't possible after the war. Then North Korea invades South Korea which we couldn't allow for reasons too obvious to mention.

This Peace Treaty if one comes about will be the best thing that's ever happened for the people and nation of North Korea.

South Korean president says he delivered Trump's message to Kim Jong Un

By Joohee Cho
SEOUL, South Korea — May 27, 2018, 5:04 AM ET

In an effort to salvage an almost scrapped summit between North Korea and the United States, South Korean President Moon Jae-in once again played his mediating role to defuse what he called "little difficulties."

Moon says that in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, he delivered President Trump's firm willingness to end hostile relations with North Korea and to offer economic assistance to the country if leader Kim implements complete denuclearization.

Kim reached out to Moon on Friday afternoon, just after Trump announced a personal letter to Kim cancelling a planned summit next month, to say that he "wanted to meet without formalities," the South Korean leader said.

The two met secretly at the North's side of the border at the truce village of Panmunjom on Saturday afternoon, then later made the meeting public.

Trump, speaking after welcoming an American who had just returned to the U.S. after being freed from jail in Venezuela, said that working level meetings with the North are ongoing at a location "not so far away from here" and they have "gone very very well." He also said that a date of June 12 in Singapore is still being considered for the meeting.

"Kim's main concern is that he needs to be able to have trust that the U.S. will surely ensure regime guarantee after they completely denuclearize," Moon told reporters at the Blue House in a press conference broadcast live Sunday morning. The timing is crucial at this juncture and "it is very important that we defuse little difficulties surrounding the U.S-North Korea summit," Moon said.

Now that the two sides at least understand what the other wants and are willing to pledge, Moon said he expects "the summit will turn out fine," as U.S. and North Korean working level officials have resumed talks.

A senior Blue House official played down concerns of cracks between Seoul and Washington that arose after Trump announced his personal letter to Kim on Thursday, cancelling the summit, which completely blind-sided Seoul. A few hours later, Moon had issued a statement saying Seoul was "baffled and deeply regretful" Trump's sudden cancellation.

Citing problems due to time differences, the official said Seoul and Washington are in close consultation and "we talk to [U.S. National Security Advisor] John Bolton every day."

"There will be difficulties trying to achieve a (huge) goal in such a short period of time," the senior Blue House official said. "We are in the process of making history. It's a matter of war or peace. A huge change, eternal peace through a complete denuclearization on the Korean peninsula."

https://abcnews.go.com/International...ry?id=55465515