North Korea summit: US aiming for June 12 meeting after ‘positive’ talks
The White House has said negotiations at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) along the border between North and South Korea for the possible summit were progressing well. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a regularly scheduled briefing: "The US delegation led by Ambassador Sung Kim met with North Korean officials today as well and their talks will continue. “So far the readouts from these meetings have been positive and we'll continue to move forward in them. "We're going to continue to shoot for the June 12th and expect to do that.”
It’s the latest sign that the rollercoaster relations between the two nations are thawing and that the historic summit could yet happen in just two weeks time. At the weekend, Mr Trump revealed plans for the meeting in Singapore were “moving nicely” - just days after calling off the long-awaited meeting. He said: "We're doing very well in terms of the summit with North Korea. "It's moving along very nicely. So we're looking at June 12th in Singapore. That hasn't changed. So, we'll see what happens."
GETTY Donald Trump has given off encouraging signs that a summit with Kim Jong-un could still take place
Last Thursday, the US President said in a letter to Kim that he was cancelling the planned summit in Singapore, citing North Korea’s “open hostility”. The Trump administration has demanded that North Korea completely and irreversibly shuts its nuclear weapons programme. Kim had reaffirmed his commitment to “complete” denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula when he held surprise talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this month. Mr Moon had said: "Chairman Kim and I have agreed that the June 12 summit should be held successfully, and that our quest for the Korean peninsula's denuclearisation and a perpetual peace regime should not be halted.”
GETTY South Korean President Moon Jae-in held surprise talks with Kim Jong-un earlier this month