Trump, Kim signal fresh hopes for derailed North Korea summit

The diplomatic initiative to keep plans alive for a Trump-Kim summit in Singapore included a surprise meeting between North and South Korean leaders.

By: AP

President Donald Trump said Saturday that negotiations over a potential summit with the leader of North Korea were “going along very well.”

Trump told reporters Saturday that: “We’re doing very well in terms of the summit with North Korea,” adding that “there are meetings going on as we speak.”

Trump said they are still considering June 12 in Singapore for the summit with Kim Jong Un. He said there is a “lot of good will” and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would be “a great thing.”

Trump also said that talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have “gone very well.”

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed in the rivals’ surprise meeting to sitting down with US President Donald Trump and to a “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Singapore bound

A White House team is heading to Singapore this weekend as previously planned to prepare for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, a further sign that the meeting Trump called off might get back on track.

Trump on Friday welcomed the North’s conciliatory response to his letter withdrawing from the June 12 meeting and said it was even possible the meeting with Kim Jong Un could take place on the originally planned date.

“They very much want to do it. We’d like to do it,” he said. Trump later tweeted that the two countries were “having very productive talks.”

On Saturday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said a team will leave for Singapore as scheduled “to prepare should the summit take place.” The team will be led by Joe Hagin, deputy chief of staff for operations.

These developments, combined with a surprise meeting Saturday between Kim and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, rekindled hopes of progress toward halting the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Meeting at a border truce village, Kim and Moon discussed carrying out the peace commitments they reached in their first summit, as well as Kim’s potential meeting with Trump, Moon’s office said.

Kim Jong Un