President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plan to meet in advance of the „expected meeting“ between Trump and North Korea’s leader.
The Latest on preparations for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plan to meet in advance of the „expected meeting“ between Trump and North Korea’s leader.
The White House said Trump and Abe spoke Monday. They discussed their shared goal of achieving „the complete and permanent dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and ballistic missile programs.“
The call came amid a whirlwind of activity over the possible June 12 summit in Singapore. Trump pulled out of the meeting Kim Jong Un last week, but then said a day later that it could get back on track. The White House’s latest characterization of the meeting as „expected“ appears to be a further sign that it could go ahead.
Trump said Sunday that a U. S. team was in North Korea to work on plans. Another U. S. delegation was in Singapore to work on logistics.
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12:40 a.m.
The presence of U. S. officials in North Korea is raising expectations that a summit between President Donald Trump and the North’s Kim Jong Un will take place after all.
Trump withdrew from a planned June 12 Singapore summit with Kim last Thursday, then quickly announced that the meeting could get back on track.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that a U. S. team had arrived in the North to make arrangements for the summit. Later, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the nations‘ officials have been engaged in talks at the Korean village of Panmunjom, which straddles the border inside the demilitarized zone, or DMZ.
Trump’s tweet offered praise for the longtime U. S. adversary, and the latest signal that his concerns about the North’s stance toward the summit have been allayed.
