FILE PHOTO – A combination photo shows a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) handout of Kim Jong Un released on May 10, 2016, and Donald Trump posing for a photo in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2016. REUTERS/KCNA handout via Reuters/File Photo & REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo President Trump is reportedly set to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un sometime in May.
South Korean officials issued the announcement on Mar. 8, stating Trump was doing so as part of an invitation from the South Korean government to get the hermit kingdom to talk about possible denuclearization.
Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to the South Korean government, stated that Kim Jong Un “pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear missile tests” until the talks take place and that the North Korean dictator had been yearning to meet with Trump.
Chung praised Trump’s handling of North Korea as the reason for the hermit kingdom agreeing to such a proposition and was hopeful that North Korean denuclearization could actually occur.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump will indeed meet with Kim Jong Un.
“President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and [South Korean] President Moon,” Sanders said in a statement. “He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined. We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea.”
However, Sanders added that “all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain” for the time being.
Trump tweeted about the scheduled meeting:
Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2018
Prior to this announcement, Trump and Kim Jong Un had been throwing barbs each other, most notably Trump warning the North Korean dictator that he would face the full “fire and fury” from the U.S. if North Korea struck the country and Trump tweeting that he had a larger nuclear button than Kim Jong Un.
Trump would be the first sitting president to meet with a North Korean dictator.
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