Trump announces “very high level” talks with Kim Jong-un
In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Donald Trump spoke of “very high level” contacts with Kim Jong-un. It would be, according to the Washington Post, the CIA director and future Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
A few weeks before his “probable” meeting with the North Korean President, Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday, April 17, that talks “at a very high level” were already held with Kim Jong-un.
According to the Washington Post, CIA Director and future Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo made a secret visit to Pyongyang, during which he met with the North Korean leader during the Easter weekend. Though the White House and the CIA did not wish to comment.
“They respect us and we respect them. The time has come to talk, to solve the problems,” Donald Trump said.
“There is a real chance to solve a global problem. This is not a problem for the United States, Japan or any other country, it is a problem for the world,” said the US president during a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister on his resident in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
The White House said that Donald Trump had not been directly in touch with the North Korean leader, contrary to what he said in response to a question on this topic.
A historic summit planned between the two Koreas on April 27
Five places are already under study, but the meeting between the two leaders “probably in June” will not be in the United States, Donald Trump argued, without providing more details. Panmunjom, a village located in the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula, is one of the hypotheses regularly mentioned.
This future meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un comes amid a warming of diplomatic relations between the two Koreas, initiated since the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, to which the North Koreans had been invited.
A summit is scheduled for April 27 between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In. This is the first summit held at this level for ten years. The meeting could be an opportunity to discuss the drafting of a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended hostilities on the peninsula after the war (1950-53).
