Face of Nation : U.S. President Donald Trump will have a third face-to-face contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday at the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, as denuclearization talks remain stalled following the rupture of their February summit.
If Trump crosses the border, he would become the first sitting U.S. president to step onto North Korean soil. Washington and Seoul remain technically at war with Pyongyang as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a cease-fire.
Trump said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae In after their meeting in Seoul that details of the formal third U.S.-N. Korea summit could be decided, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s meeting with Kim.
“What we’re doing today is a step in the right direction,” Trump said, emphasizing that he has a mutual understanding with Kim.
Earlier in the day, Trump, who arrived in South Korea on Saturday evening, also said that Moon will accompany him on the trip to the DMZ in the village of Panmunjeom.
On Saturday, Trump expressed willingness to meet with Kim at the DMZ even if only to shake hands, to which North Korea responded positively.
Even after the collapse of their Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi, Trump has voiced eagerness to continue talks with Kim, while the United States and North Korea have no diplomatic relations.
Earlier this month, the U.S. and North Korean leaders exchanged letters, in a sign that they remain on good terms with each other.
North Korea’s official news agency reported last Sunday that Kim received a personal letter from Trump and expressed “satisfaction” with it, although KCNA did not elaborate on what was communicated.
On June 11, the eve of the one-year anniversary of the first U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore, Trump told reporters that he had received a “beautiful” letter from Kim.
At their first meeting, Kim and Trump agreed that the United States would provide security guarantees to North Korea in return for “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders, however, fell short of a deal at their second summit in the Vietnamese capital against the backdrop of the gap between Washington’s insistence on denuclearization and Pyongyang’s demand for sanctions relief.
Arguing that Pyongyang has already implemented concrete steps to attain denuclearization of the peninsula, Kim has called on Washington to fulfill the Singapore agreement and ease sanctions. But Trump is believed to be reluctant to compromise.
North Korea has recently resumed provocative actions such as firing what were thought to be short-range ballistic missiles in early May.
In a speech to the country’s legislature in April, Kim asked the United States to shift its policy on denuclearization negotiations by the end of this year, criticizing it for making what he claimed are one-sided demands.
Kim met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang earlier this month and he is believed to have attempted to obtain Beijing’s help to move negotiations forward with Washington.
Xi held bilateral talks with Trump on Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan’s western city of Osaka. At the meeting, Xi urged Trump to resume negotiations with North Korea as soon as possible, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
China and North Korea fought together in the 1950-1953 Korean War against U.S.-led United Nations forces, and Beijing remains Pyongyang’s closest ally. The United States and North Korea have no diplomatic ties.
