President Trump has agreed to sit down with his North Korean nemesis Kim Jong Un sometime in the next two months to discuss stripping the hermit nation of its nuclear arsenal, it was announced Thursday.
The historic meeting was brokered by the South Korean government, which delivered the invitation to the White House and divulged the details outside the West Wing.
“He expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible,” South Korean national security director Chung Eui-yong said of Kim.
“President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong Un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.”
According to Chung, the North also agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests during such future talks — a longstanding US demand.
The White House said the meeting will be held “at a place and time to be determined.”
Trump celebrated the news in a tweet Thursday night.
“Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze,” he wrote.
“Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!”
The relationship between the two world leaders has been downright nasty at times — with Trump repeatedly calling Kim “Little Rocket Man” and Kim dubbing the president a “mentally deranged US dotard.”
After Kim made threats against the US in a New Year’s address and mentioned the “nuclear button” on his office desk, Trump responded by tweeting that he has a nuclear button, too, “but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
But Trump struck a more conciliatory tone Tuesday, when he tweeted about the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned,” Trump wrote.
“The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!”
No American president has ever met with a North Korean leader.
The US and North Korea do not even have formal diplomatic relations and the two nations remain in a state of war — because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice.
The major development follows diplomatic moves by the North to thaw its acrimonious relations with both the South and the US. The rival Koreas have already agreed to hold a leadership summit in late April.
In recent weeks, the South publicly stated that the North was interested in talks with the US over normalizing ties.
Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, had a memorable meeting and friendly handshake with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the February Olympic games in PyeongChang.
Trump has not spoken publicly since the meeting was announced. But he teased the news to reporters shortly before the press conference.
When a reporter asked Trump about the announcement pertaining to talks between the US and the despotic nation, Trump responded: “It’s almost beyond that.”
“Hopefully, you will give me credit,” he added.
With Post wires