Moon Jae-in could join Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at North Korea nuclear summit, say officials as preparations take place
Preparation talks are expected to continue Monday and Tuesday at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone
US and North Korean officials huddled in the Korean truce village of Panmunjom for a second day Monday, hammering out details of a proposed summit amid media reports that South Korean President Moon Jae-in may attend the historic meeting.
“The discussions are just getting started, so we are still waiting to see how they come out, but ... [Moon] could join President [Donald] Trump and [North Korean leader] Kim [Jong-un] in Singapore,” a senior official with Moon’s office told Yonhap news agency on condition of anonymity.
South Korea’s President Moon is in the most difficult position of all
Sung Kim, a former US ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator with the North, has been called in from his post as envoy to the Philippines to lead the preparations, according to a person familiar with the arrangements.
The talks were expected to continue through until the end of Tuesday, and are focused on what would be the substance of a potential summit between Trump and Kim – the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
“I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day,” Trump said on Twitter.
“Kim Jong-un agrees with me on this. It will happen!,” the president said, confirming that a US team “has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the summit” between himself and North Korean leader Kim.