Trump says he would like to meet Kim in DMZ

US President Donald Trump says that he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

Trump, who is currently in Japan, said on Twitter Friday that he can meet Kim after he leaves Tokyo for South Korea.

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(?)!

This comes after a US special envoy said earlier in the day that Washington was prepared to hold constructive talks with Pyongyang about a denuclearization agreement reached by the two countries last year in Singapore, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.

Stephen Biegun told his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, that Washington wanted to make “simultaneous, parallel” progress on the deal, said the ministry in a statement.

The US and North Korea had been negotiating over the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula since last year, when a rapprochement between North and South Korea later led to a diplomatic opening between Pyongyang and Washington.

But the talks have effectively stalled in recent months after the second summit between Kim and Trump in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi ended without an agreement in February.

Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are now expected to hold discussions on ways to begin dialogue with the North.

“Biegun said the upcoming summit would provide a crucial chance to foster peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula,” the ministry noted.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s state media KCNA Friday called on the US and South Korea to cancel their plans to conduct joint military exercise in the summer.

Although the two countries have replaced their annual major drills with smaller-scale programs, Pyongyang views them as a rehearsal for war and wants them to be called off.

“This amounts to a wanton challenge to the desire and expectation of all the Koreans and the international community for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and an act to create the atmosphere of confrontation and danger of war again,” KCNA said in a commentary.

Trump announced earlier this month that he had received a “beautiful letter” from Kim, breaking the silence since the collapse of their second summit. Pyongyang also said that Kim had received a personal letter of "excellent content" from Trump.

Speculation is that the letters could pave the way for a third summit between the two leaders.

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