U.S. President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.
Trump met its leader, Kim Jong Un, on Sunday in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas and agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks, and expressed hopes for peace, Reuters reports.
Trump, escorted by Kim, briefly crossed a military demarcation line into the North.
Moments later, they returned to the South Korean side and joined South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in for a brief chat, marking an unprecedented three-way gathering.
Trump and Kim held a closed door meeting for nearly an hour.
“The meeting was a very good one, very strong … We agreed to work out details,” Trump said. “We’ll see what can happen,” he added.
He said both sides would set up teams to push forward stalled talks aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, adding that he is in no rush for a deal.
Trump and Kim met for the first time in Singapore in June 2018, and agreed to improve relations and work toward the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Kim looked relaxed and smiled as he chatted with Trump amidst a throng of press photographers, aides and bodyguards.
“I was surprised to see your message that you wanted to meet me,” he told Trump, referring to Trump’s Saturday offer, in a Twitter posting, to meet.
“This is an expression of his willingness” to work toward a new future, Kim said.
Kim said it would be a great honor if Trump visited his capital of Pyongyang.
“To cross that line was a great honor,” Trump said, referring to his brief incursion into the North Korean side of the DMZ.
“It’s a great day for the world,” he said.
“We moved mountains” to arrange the meeting at such short notice, he said.
