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Donald Trump invites Kim Jong-un to US after entering North Korea

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

US after he became the first sitting US president to enter North Korea, APA reports citing The Guardian.

The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

After shaking hands with Kim in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas and walking with him over the border, 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.”

Following a trilateral meeting between Kim, Trump and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, Trump later said he agreed with Kim to restart talks after nuclear negotiations stalled earlier this year and had invited him to the US “when the time is right”.

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.

Earlier, in the South Korean capital, Seoul, Trump said he was “looking forward to [the meeting] very much … he understands me and I think I maybe understand him.” “We have a very good relationship, the two of us,” he added, referring to Kim. “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 ahead of the talks that even a handshake and brief encounter between Trump and Kim “would be a significant milestone in the peace process on the Korean peninsula”.

He said he could “really feel that the flower of peace was truly blossoming on the Korean peninsula.” Moon 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.”