According to Reuters, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, during « in-depth discussions » with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, agreed to hold top-level talks between the two countries on June 1.
On Saturday, Seoul’s presidential office said that earlier in the day Moon and Kim had met for the second time in the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone.
The next meeting will be held on Friday, the Yonhap news agency reported citing North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Moreover, the leaders agreed to meet frequently in the future to make bilateral dialogue « brisk » as well as expressed their commitment to efforts aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. During the Saturday meeting, Kim also reportedly expressed a « fixed will » to hold a North Korea-US summit on June 12.
Meanwhile, South Korea regards as « fortunate » the resumption of talks between the United States and North Korea on their leader’s summit in June, a presidential spokesman said Saturday.
He added Seoul was carefully watching the progress of negotiations announced earlier by US President Donald Trump, who said on Twitter the summit could be reinstated or postponed beyond June 12.
On Friday, The New York Times newspaper reported that some of Trump’s advisers differed sharply on what the president should get from the meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, if it eventually takes place. The newspaper also cited a senior White House official, who said that even if the meeting was reinstated, it would be impossible to hold it on June 12, as it had been scheduled before.
« Unlike what the Failing and Corrupt New York Times would like people to believe, there is ZERO disagreement within the Trump Administration as to how to deal with North Korea…and if there was, it wouldn’t matter. The @nytimes has called me wrong right from the beginning! » Trump wrote on Twitter.
« The Failing @nytimes quotes ‘a senior White House official,’ who doesn’t exist, as saying ‘even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed.’ WRONG AGAIN! Use real people, not phony sources, » he added.
On Thursday, the White House released Trump’s letter informing Kim that he was canceling their meeting in Singapore scheduled for June 12. However, the following day, the US president indicated that he might yet meet the North Korean leader as scheduled or postpone the summit.
