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| 'Very historic': Donald Trump crosses into North Korea with Kim Jong-un | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Donald Trump has become the first sitting US president to enter North Korea after shaking hands with Kim Jong-un and walking with him over the border. | |
| After stepping onto North Korean soil, Trump said: “Stepping across that line is a great honour, great progress has been made, great friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great friendship.” He said the meeting was “very historic”. | |
| Kim crossed the south side of the border for his first trilateral meeting with Trump and Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president. Kim said the meeting at the heavily-armed border was symbolic of warming ties between the US and North Korea. | |
| “I think meeting here, two countries that have a hostile past, we are showcasing to the world that we have a new present and we have a positive meeting going forward,” he said. | |
| The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday. | |
| Earlier, in the South Korean capital, Seoul, Trump said he was “looking forward to it very much … he understands me and I think I maybe understand him.” | |
| Trump proposes meeting with Kim Jong-un in demilitarised zone | Trump proposes meeting with Kim Jong-un in demilitarised zone |
| “We have a very good relationship, the two of us,” he added, referring to Kim Jong-un. | “We have a very good relationship, the two of us,” he added, referring to Kim Jong-un. |
| “I want to say hello. Let’s see what happens … It will be very short but that’s OK. A handshake means a lot.” | “I want to say hello. Let’s see what happens … It will be very short but that’s OK. A handshake means a lot.” |
| Moon said the meeting represented a “big hope to everyone”. Speaking alongside Trump at the start of their bilateral talks, Moon said even a handshake and brief encounter between Trump and Kim “would be a significant milestone in the peace process on the Korean peninsula”. | |
| Moon, who will travel with Trump to the DMZ, added that he could “really feel that the flower of peace was truly blossoming on the Korean peninsula.” | Moon, who will travel with Trump to the DMZ, added that he could “really feel that the flower of peace was truly blossoming on the Korean peninsula.” |
| He later told a joint press conference that he was “overwhelmed” with emotion about the meeting at the border village of Panmunjom. He described Trump and Kim as “so brave” adding, “I hope President Trump will go down in history as the president who achieves peace on Korean peninsula.” | He later told a joint press conference that he was “overwhelmed” with emotion about the meeting at the border village of Panmunjom. He described Trump and Kim as “so brave” adding, “I hope President Trump will go down in history as the president who achieves peace on Korean peninsula.” |
| Trump said of Kim: “We have a very good relationship – we understand each other and sometimes that can lead to very good things.” | Trump said of Kim: “We have a very good relationship – we understand each other and sometimes that can lead to very good things.” |
| Earlier, he said he was looking forward to meeting Kim, but sought to tamp down expectations, predicting it would be “very short”. “Virtually a handshake, but that’s OK. A handshake means a lot,” he said. | Earlier, he said he was looking forward to meeting Kim, but sought to tamp down expectations, predicting it would be “very short”. “Virtually a handshake, but that’s OK. A handshake means a lot,” he said. |
| Trump claimed both North and South Korea had benefitted from his attempts to engage Kim since he became president. “North Korea and South Korea are both in much better places than they were two and a half years ago,” he said. “It’s day and night,” he added. | Trump claimed both North and South Korea had benefitted from his attempts to engage Kim since he became president. “North Korea and South Korea are both in much better places than they were two and a half years ago,” he said. “It’s day and night,” he added. |
| “Lots of good things are happening with North Korea,” he said earlier in a meeting South Korean business leaders, repeating his belief that the US “would have been at war with North Korea” if someone else had been elected to the White House. | “Lots of good things are happening with North Korea,” he said earlier in a meeting South Korean business leaders, repeating his belief that the US “would have been at war with North Korea” if someone else had been elected to the White House. |
| Trump said at the G20 in Osaka on Saturday that he would have “no problem” stepping into the North with Kim – in what would be a dramatic re-enactment of the extraordinary scene last year when Kim invited Moon to walk over the military demarcation line that forms the border between the Koreas. | Trump said at the G20 in Osaka on Saturday that he would have “no problem” stepping into the North with Kim – in what would be a dramatic re-enactment of the extraordinary scene last year when Kim invited Moon to walk over the military demarcation line that forms the border between the Koreas. |
| Trump would be the first sitting US president to step across the border, and the gesture would represent a public relations coup for Kim, who has held summits with Trump, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the past year. | Trump would be the first sitting US president to step across the border, and the gesture would represent a public relations coup for Kim, who has held summits with Trump, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the past year. |
| Trump and Kim first met in Singapore last year in a blaze of publicity – the first-ever encounter between a leader of the nuclear-armed North and a sitting US president, whose forces and their allies fought each other to a stalemate in the 1950-53 Korean war. | Trump and Kim first met in Singapore last year in a blaze of publicity – the first-ever encounter between a leader of the nuclear-armed North and a sitting US president, whose forces and their allies fought each other to a stalemate in the 1950-53 Korean war. |
| That summit produced a vaguely-worded pledge about denuclearisation, but a second meeting in Hanoi in February broke up abruptly without agreement. | That summit produced a vaguely-worded pledge about denuclearisation, but a second meeting in Hanoi in February broke up abruptly without agreement. |
| Contact between the two sides has since been minimal – with Pyongyang issuing frequent criticisms of the US position – but the two leaders have exchanged a series of letters. | Contact between the two sides has since been minimal – with Pyongyang issuing frequent criticisms of the US position – but the two leaders have exchanged a series of letters. |
| It was not clear on Sunday morning if Kim would attend the rendezvous. | It was not clear on Sunday morning if Kim would attend the rendezvous. |
| But in an unusually fast and public response, within hours of Trump’s tweet the North’s official KCNA news agency quoted the vice foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, as saying the offer was “a very interesting suggestion” but that no official request had been received. | But in an unusually fast and public response, within hours of Trump’s tweet the North’s official KCNA news agency quoted the vice foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, as saying the offer was “a very interesting suggestion” but that no official request had been received. |
| A meeting in the DMZ makes a powerful visual statement, but analysts were divided over its potential impact. | |
| The 4km-wide (2.5 miles) zone, running for 250km, is where the front line lay when the Korean war ended in 1953, with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, and is described as the world’s last Cold War frontier. | The 4km-wide (2.5 miles) zone, running for 250km, is where the front line lay when the Korean war ended in 1953, with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, and is described as the world’s last Cold War frontier. |
| “The meeting, however short, will have a huge impact as the DMZ symbolises the military tension between North Korea and the United States,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul. | “The meeting, however short, will have a huge impact as the DMZ symbolises the military tension between North Korea and the United States,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul. |
| However, Robert Kelly of Pusan National University, derided Trump’s invitation as “emblematic of why the Trump NK effort is a farce: thrown-together; last-minute; made-for-TV”. | However, Robert Kelly of Pusan National University, derided Trump’s invitation as “emblematic of why the Trump NK effort is a farce: thrown-together; last-minute; made-for-TV”. |
| It was driven by Trump’s “lust for optics and drama rather than substance” and “a photo-op for the 2020 election”, he tweeted. | It was driven by Trump’s “lust for optics and drama rather than substance” and “a photo-op for the 2020 election”, he tweeted. |
| But John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul said a meeting in the “barren no man’s land that embodies the unhealed wound of post-WWII division, the Korean war, and 70 years of animosity” would help improve ties. | But John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul said a meeting in the “barren no man’s land that embodies the unhealed wound of post-WWII division, the Korean war, and 70 years of animosity” would help improve ties. |
| “It’s not just about denuclearisation and it’s not all about a deal – important as those are,” he said. “If Trump and Kim meet & can announce some kind of interim agreement, that’s great. If they meet and don’t, that’s ok too. If in the end they don’t meet, it’s good that Trump offered to.” | “It’s not just about denuclearisation and it’s not all about a deal – important as those are,” he said. “If Trump and Kim meet & can announce some kind of interim agreement, that’s great. If they meet and don’t, that’s ok too. If in the end they don’t meet, it’s good that Trump offered to.” |
| On Sunday morning, Trump also hailed the trade talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 in Japan on Saturday as “far better than expected” and vowed to hold off on further tariffs as negotiations continue. | On Sunday morning, Trump also hailed the trade talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 in Japan on Saturday as “far better than expected” and vowed to hold off on further tariffs as negotiations continue. |
| I had a great meeting with President Xi of China yesterday, far better than expected. I agreed not to increase the already existing Tariffs that we charge China while we continue to negotiate. China has agreed that, during the negotiation, they will begin purchasing large..... | I had a great meeting with President Xi of China yesterday, far better than expected. I agreed not to increase the already existing Tariffs that we charge China while we continue to negotiate. China has agreed that, during the negotiation, they will begin purchasing large..... |
| “The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry, but things look very good!” Trump tweeted on Sunday. | “The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry, but things look very good!” Trump tweeted on Sunday. |
| The ceasefire that halts damaging trade frictions came after a hotly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s top two economies on the sidelines of the G20 summit. | The ceasefire that halts damaging trade frictions came after a hotly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s top two economies on the sidelines of the G20 summit. |
| Washington confirmed that it would not impose any further tariffs on Beijing’s exports. On Sunday Trump reiterated that China had agreed to buy “large amounts of agricultural products from our great Farmers.” | Washington confirmed that it would not impose any further tariffs on Beijing’s exports. On Sunday Trump reiterated that China had agreed to buy “large amounts of agricultural products from our great Farmers.” |
| “Importantly, we have opened up negotiations again with China as our relationship with them continues to be a very good one,” he tweeted. | “Importantly, we have opened up negotiations again with China as our relationship with them continues to be a very good one,” he tweeted. |
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