At a joint press conference with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he would be meeting North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) today to "shake hands" and say a "quick hello".
Following the conclusion of the G20 Osaka Summit of 2019, Trump travelled to South Korea where he met with Moon to discuss the meeting. Earlier, on June 29, Trump had tweeted his desire to "meet him at the border/DMZ, just to shake his hand and say hello".
After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). 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(?)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019
Trump has now confirmed the meeting but added that it would be a short one. "We're going to the DMZ border and I'll be meeting with Chairman Kim. I look forward to it very much. We've developed a very good relationship." He said that he would "just shake hands quickly and say hello because we haven't seen each other since Vietnam," adding that he had "a certain chemistry" with Kim.
The DMZ is a 4km-wide buffer zone that stretches 250km from the West to the East of the Korean peninsula. Within this is the Joint Security Area (JSA) located near the village of Panmunjom. The JSA is the only area where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face, and is where the two leaders are likely to meet. It will be the first time that the two countries' leaders will meet at the DMZ since the end of the Korean War.
The Joint Security Area (JSA) where Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump are likely to meet | AFP
Responding to a question from the press as to whether he would step across the border to meet with Kim, Trump said he would have no problem doing so.
A travel company that organizes tours to North Korea tweeted that the DMZ would be off-limits to tourists today, fuelling speculation that Trump would be meeting Kim at the venue.
The last time Trump and Kim met was at the Hanoi Summit in Vietnam, where talks broke down after both sides failed to agree on a set of terms to drop sanctions in exchange for decommissioning parts of the DPRK's nuclear programme.
The DMZ is closed to tourists visiting from the North Korean side today.
— Koryo Tours (@KoryoTours) June 30, 2019
This would be Trump and Kim's third meeting in a year. The first time the two leaders met was at the Singapore summit in June last year.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in praised the move on Twitter, with his official handle stating that Trump gave hope to the world with his Tweet. Moon added, "Seeing the tweet, I felt the flower of peace is truly blossoming on the Korean Peninsula." Moon added peace takes more courage than tensions.
