Trump says both he and North Korea's Kim want to meet at DMZ

30 June 2019 13:44 (UTC+04:00)

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un both want to meet at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas later in the day, raising hopes for an encounter that could jump-start stalled nuclear talks, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Trump arrived in Seoul late on Saturday for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after attending the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, during which he made a surprise, spur-of-the-moment offer to meet Kim.

If Trump and Kim meet, it would be for the third time in just over a year, and four months since their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam broke down.

“Well we’ll see. He very much wants to,” Trump said when asked by a reporter whether Kim would meet him at the DMZ later on Sunday when Trump is scheduled to visit the heavily armed border.

“They’re trying to work it out. We both want to do it,” he said after a meeting with South Korean business leaders including the heads of Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Lotte, SK and Poongsan groups.

“It’s going to be very short, virtually a handshake. But that’s OK. A handshake means a lot.”

He said he and Kim had a “good relationship” but there was still a long way to go to reach an agreement that would end the North’s nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula.

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