Donald Trump will meet Kim Jong Un at the demilitarised zone that separates the Korean Peninsula, in what will be their first face-to-face encounter since denuclearisation talks between the countries collapsed in Hanoi in February.
“I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim, I look forward to it,” he said, adding that he had developed a good relationship with the North Korean dictator and they “understood” each other.
Mr Trump will travel to the border area with South Korean president Moon Jae-in after pair held talks in Seoul following the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Mr Moon said the possibility of a handshake between Mr Kim and Mr Trump at the border represented a “big hope to everyone”.
“This would be a significant milestone in the peace process on the Korean peninsula,” he said.
In an unorthodox move, Mr Trump had proposed the meeting publicly via Twitter while at the G20.
North Korea subsequently requested an official invitation from the US.
Mr Trump on Saturday also opened the door to becoming the first sitting US president to step on to North Korean territory when he said he would be willing to cross the DMZ. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton travelled to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, after they had left the White House in 1994 and 2009 respectively.
Mr Trump’s visit to the DMZ comes almost exactly 69 years since former president Harry Truman ordered American troops to Korea and will be the first by a US president accompanied by a South Korean president.
The meeting with Mr Kim comes against a backdrop of stalled negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme after the Hanoi summit finished early with no agreement.
The Trump administration has pushed for a deal that would require Pyongyang to end its nuclear programme and give up its existing weapons. Mr Kim, however, has pushed for the removal of sanctions in return for incremental steps towards denuclearisation.
Analysts diverged as to the importance of a third meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim, with some saying it merely reflected a chaotic approach to US foreign policy under Mr Trump.
Others, however, said it could be a significant step in improving ties.
“It is really hard to change the fundamental dynamic and change the nature of the relationship . . . That is an essential part of this equation and it is not easy to do,” said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul.
