Trump seeks 'very meaningful' summit with Kim Trump pauses as he speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday (local time). He said he had high hopes of “doing something very meaningful” to curtail North Korea’s nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month. / APU.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had high hopes of “doing something very meaningful” to curtail North Korea’s nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month, after Pyongyang smoothed the way for talks by freeing three American prisoners.The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader were announced by Trump on Twitter.“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” Trump wrote.He made the announcement after a U.S. government aircraft touched down at Joint Base Andrews near Washington carrying the Americans who were released by North Korea in a move to clear the way for the bilateral summit.The exMay 11, 2018
Kim, Trump to meet in Singapore on June 12 By Park Si-sooU.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Trump tweeted. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!"Singapore ― almost 5,000 kilometers south of Pyongyang ― represents neutral turf for the two leaders. If the meeting goes ahead as announced, the Kim-Trump meeting will mark the first North Korea-U.S. summit talks since the 1950-53 Korean War that was suspended by an armistice deal, not an official peace treaty.South Korea's presidential office "welcomed" the announcement. In a text message sent to reporters, President Moon Jae-in's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, "We welcome the historic North Korea-U.S. summit on June 12 in Singapore. We hope the summit will bring denuclearization and permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula."Trump's announcement came one day after North Korea freed three U.S. prisonMay 11, 2018
China, Japan poles apart over NK Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, right, reviews the honor guard with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a welcoming ceremony before their bilateral talks at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo, Wednesday. / AP-YonhapBy Park Ji-wonThe latest talks among the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China in Tokyo, Wednesday, revealed that Tokyo and Beijing have conflicting positions over how to handle North Korea, analysts said Thursday.This is mainly because their long-term security interests hinge on the looming diplomatic process of denuclearizing North Korea.President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang issued a joint statement pledging to work closely together to achieve denuclearization, and also adopted a joint declaration in this regard.However, Japan and China engaged in a tug-of-war late into the night over the wording of the statement, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials. Their joint statement was adopted around 11 p.m., 12 hours after the leaders made their public announcement that they would issue the statement.“The adoMay 10, 2018
Panmunjeom not Trump-Kim summit venue By Kim RahnUnited States President Donald Trump has ruled out the truce village of Panmunjeom on the border of North and South Korea as the venue for his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Instead, Singapore is emerging as the possible site. In a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump said about the location of the Washington-Pyongyang summit: “We're going to announce that in three days… within three days. We're just working on arrangements.”When asked whether it would be Panmunjeom, he said, “It will not be there.”Following these remarks, many now predict Singapore will be the summit location.Citing U.S. administration sources, multiple foreign media reported the Southeast Asian country has emerged as the candidate. CNN said administration officials were instructed to prepare plans to hold the summit there, although the final decision is up to Trump.Trump earlier showed interest in holding the summit at the truce village in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), posting on his Twitter: “Numerous countries are being considered for the meeting,May 10, 2018
Trump welcomes back Americans freed by North Korea US President Donald Trump applauds as U.S. detainee Kim Dong-chul, second from right, gestures upon his return with Kim Hak-song (behind) and Tony Kim, center, after they were freed by North Korea, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Thursday (local time). / AFP U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Tony Kim as fellow detainee Kim Dong-chul and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence look on. / AFPStaging a flag-waving, still-of-the-night arrival ceremony, President Donald Trump early Thursday welcomed home three Americans freed by North Korea and declared their release a sign of promise toward his goal of de-nuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.Trump called it a ``great honor'' to welcome the detainees to the U.S. and added, ``The true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons.''Joined by the former detainees, Trump thanked North Korea's Kim Jong-un for releasing the Americans, and said he believes Kim wants to reach an agreement on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. ``I really think he wants to do something,'' the president said.First lady MelaniMay 10, 2018
Seoul expects North Korea to release its citizens as well An airplane, carrying three recently freed American detainees along with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, arrives in Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Choi Ha-youngAfter North Korea freed three American detainees, Wednesday, South Korea expects the North to do the same quickly for six South Koreans being detained in the North.Cheong Wa Dae said it will do its best for the release of the six detainees.Presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan lauded Pyongyang's decision to repatriate the three Americans. “The decision would help the summit between Washington and Pyongyang,” Yoon said in a statement released late Wednesday. “It's particularly meaningful that the three Americans are ethnic Koreans.”Yoon noted President Moon Jae-in demanded the repatriation of six South Koreans during the April 27 inter-Korean summit. In a press briefing Wednesday morning, unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said the government has made efforts to resolve humanitarian issues, as stipulated in the Panmunjeom Declaration signed April 27. CuMay 10, 2018
North Korea, China strengthen aviation cooperation North Korea and China are improving their ties. / YonhapNorth Korea and China are moving to expand direct flight routes between Pyongyang and major Chinese cities on the back of growing improvements in their bilateral relationship, tourism officials said Thursday.Following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Beijing in late March, the two countries began preparations for the launch of a direct air route linking Pyongyang with China's southwestern city of Chengdu, they said.According to local tourism officials, a group of 10 travel agencies in Chengdu plan to send the first chartered direct flight to Pyongyang via the North's flag carrier airline Air Koryo on June 28. The officials said the Chinese travel agencies are scheduled to gradually expand the Pyongyang-bound direct air routes to other major Chinese cities."Travel companies across China are known to be preparing to launch direct chartered flight service to Pyongyang," an industry executive said. "The number of passengers traveling from inland areas like Chengdu to Pyongyang is unlikely to be large. Thus, new air roMay 10, 2018
Freed detainees head home for big welcome, featuring Trump In this May 3, 2018 photo, people watch a TV news report screen showing portraits of three Americans, Kim Dong-chul, left, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song, right, detained in the North Korea, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul. U.S. President Donald Trump says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back from North Korea with three American detainees, saying they "seem to be in good health." / AP Freed after more than a year in prison, three Americans flew homeward from North Korea late Tuesday toward a big middle-of-the-night celebration featuring President Donald Trump ― the latest sign of improving relations between longtime adversaries in the buildup to a historic summit between Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un.Trump promised ``quite a scene'' at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington for the detainees, who were released as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited North Korea on Wednesday to finalize plans for the summit. Singapore was the likely site, late this month or in early June, for Trump's most ambitious foreign policy effort yet.Shortly after they touched doMay 10, 2018
Trump rules out DMZ as location for summit with Kim Jong-un U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, May 9, 2018. / AFPTrump promises to announce date, place 'within three days.'U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will announce the site for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un within three days and it will not be held at the demilitarized zone along the border between the two Koreas. "It will not be there," he told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House when asked if the planned meeting would be at the DMZ. "We're going to announce it within three days." Trump, who scrapped a visit to the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone due to bad weather during a visit last year, suggested in April that the DMZ would be an excellent venue for his summit with Kim.Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the end of April at a building in Panmunjom known as the Peace House. Trump suggested that having the summit at Peace House would carry a symbolic value that having it in a third country would not. But the U.S. prMay 10, 2018
Trump, Kim to have 'one-day' summit; time, place to be announced 'in next few days' U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that planning for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was going well and that details would likely be announced in the next few days.Speaking to reporters as he returned from North Korea accompanied by three Americans who had been detained there, Pompeo said a place and date had been set for a one-day summit in good, productive conversations between U.S. and North Korean officials, according to a U.S. media pool report. (REUTERS)May 10, 2018
