US President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the third time on Sunday amid hopes for new talks at ending North Korea’s nuclear programs.
Trump met Kim on the southern side of the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas.
The North Korean leader while meeting Trump said his "wonderful" relationship with President Trump would enable the two longtime enemies to get over obstructions, with their nuclear talks at a stalemate.
"I am convinced our relationship will enable us to overcome barriers standing in the way," said Kim, adding as the two leaders held talks in the Demilitarized Zone that their close ties enabled a meeting to happen "just overnight".
Trump briefly crossed the inter-Korean military border into the North, becoming the first ever US president to set foot in the reclusive country.
Earlier in the day, Trump had said the North Korean leader wanted to meet at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas later in the day, raising hopes for an encounter that could jump-start stalled nuclear talks.
Trump arrived in Seoul late on Saturday for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after attending the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, during which he made a surprise, spur-of-the-moment offer to meet Kim.
“Well, we’ll see. He very much wants to,” Trump had said when asked by a reporter whether Kim would meet him at the DMZ later on Sunday when Trump is scheduled to visit the heavily armed border.
“They’re trying to work it out. We both want to do it,” he said after a meeting with South Korean business leaders including the heads of Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Lotte, SK and Poongsan groups.
“It’s going to be very short, virtually a handshake. But that’s OK. A handshake means a lot.”
He said he and Kim had a “good relationship” but there was still a long way to go to reach an agreement that would end the North’s nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has pursued nuclear and missile programs for years in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, and easing tensions with North Korea is one of the US President’s top foreign policy priorities.
Trump made the offer to meet in a message on Twitter about his visit to South Korea.
“While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Trump wrote.
