Donald Trump has become the first sitting US president to cross the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, meeting with Kim and promising that big things are in store for the Korean Peninsula.
After briefly crossing into North Korean territory, the two leaders offered some thoughts on the historic moment.
“Its a great honor to be here. A great honor,” Trump said, adding that “a lot of really positive things are happening” and that there is “tremendous positivity.”
The US president also hailed his “great friendship” with Kim, noting that “we met and we liked each other from day one, and that was very important.”
Kim for his part argued that by crossing the DMZ, Trump had demonstrated his desire to “open a new future” regarding North Korea.
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The surprise gathering came after Trump used his favorite social media tool, Twitter, to invite Kim to have a brief meeting. The invitation came as the US president attended a G20 summit in Japan, meaning that only a short journey was required.
He is the first-ever sitting US head of state to set foot on North Korean soil. Two former presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, have visited the country – but only after they had left office.
Thanking Kim for coming to the historic meeting, the US leader said that media would have gone berserk if the North Korean counterpart had failed to show up.
The unprecedented event was witnessed by a gaggle of photographers, who were seen pushing and scuffling with one another to get the best shot. In one humorous moment, what appeared to be two North Korean photographers stepped in front of Kim and Trump to take a few snapshots, only to face a barrage of screaming protests from the US press pool.
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Both heads of state met last in February in Hanoi, Vietnam, but the talks were considered a failure and the summit was cut short. Pyongyang claimed that Washington was to blame for the unsuccessful meeting. That said, the two leaders have since maintained an ongoing and apparently amiable written correspondence. Trump has repeatedly praised Kims letters, describing the most recent message he received from the North Korean leader as “bRead More – Source
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