Trump becomes 1st sitting US leader to enter North Korea
By ZEKE MILLER and JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press
1 hr ago
Video by CNN
PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) — With grins and handshakes, President Donald Trump welcomed North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone Sunday, seeking to revive talks on the pariah nation's nuclear program in a bid for a legacy-defining accord. Trump then became the first sitting American leader to step into North Korea.
The meeting, another historic first in the yearlong rapprochement between the two technically warring nations, marks a return to face-to-face contact between the leaders since talks broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February. But it does little to erase significant doubts that remain about the future of the negotiations and the North's willingness to give up its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Trump's brief crossing into North Korean territory marked the latest milestone in two years of roller-coaster diplomacy between the two nations, as personal taunts of "little rocket man" and threats to destroy the other have been ushered out by on-again, off-again talks, professions of love and flowery letters.
"I was proud to step over the line," Trump told Kim as they met in a building known as "Freedom House" on the South Korean side of the village. "It is a great day for the world."
Kim hailed the moment, saying of Trump, "I believe this is an expression of his willingness to eliminate all the unfortunate past and open a new future." He added that he was "surprised" when Trump invited to meet by a tweet on Saturday.
What was originally expected to be a brief exchange of pleasantries over the raised line of concrete marking the border between North and South - Trump had said it would last "two minutes" - turned into private talks stretching beyond a half hour. Trump was joined in the Freedom House conversation with Kim by his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, both senior White House advisers.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.
Peering into North Korea from atop Observation Post Ouellette, Trump told reporters before meeting Kim that there has been "tremendous" improvement since his first meeting with the North's leader in Singapore last year.
Trump claimed the situation used to be marked by "tremendous danger" but "after our first summit, all of the danger went away."
But North has yet to provide an accounting of its nuclear stockpile, let alone begin the process of dismantling its arsenal.
The meeting at the truce city of Panmunjom also represented a striking acknowledgement by Trump of the authoritarian Kim's legitimacy over a nation with an abysmal human rights record.
As he stood beside Kim, Trump told reporters he would invite the North Korean leader to the United States, potentially even to the White House.
"I would invite him right now," Trump said. Kim, speaking through a translator, reciprocated that it would be an "honor" to invite Trump to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang "at the right time."
Slide 1 of 34: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.
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1/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
President Donald Trump made a historic visit to shake hands with North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
(Pictured) President Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone, separating, North and the South Korea, on June 30 in Panmunjom, South Korea.
2/34 SLIDES Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Trump talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom on June 30 in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea.
3/34 SLIDES BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump cross south of the Demilitarized Military Zone on June 30.
4/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
President Trump shake hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone on June 30 in Panmunjom, South Korea.
5/34 SLIDES BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un walks to greet President Trump, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June 30.
6/34 SLIDES Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
South Korean people watch a live TV broadcast on a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ on June 30, in Seoul, South Korea.
7/34 SLIDES Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, receive gifts and talks to troops at the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Camp Bonifas on June 30 in South Korea.
8/34 SLIDES Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left of Trump arrive to talk to troops on June 30 in South Korea.
9/34 SLIDES Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Trump talks to troops on June 30.
10/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
President Trump looks on at the demilitarized zone on June 30 in Panmunjom, South Korea.
11/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in visit the demilitarized zone on June 30.
12/34 SLIDES Lee Jin-man/AP Photo
Visitors use binoculars to see the North side at the Imjingak Pavilion on June 30 in Paju, South Korea.
13/34 SLIDES Lee Jin-man/AP Photo
Visitors look through a wire fence decorated with ribbons written with messages wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion on June 30 in Paju, South Korea.
14/34 SLIDES acquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters
The Marine One helicopter carrying President Trump to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) takes off from Seoul, South Korea, on June 30.
15/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attend a news conference at the Blue House on June 30 in Seoul.
16/34 SLIDES Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands at the start of a bilateral meeting on June 30.
17/34 SLIDES Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton attend a meeting between U.S. President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on June 30.
18/34 SLIDES BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
National Security Adviser John Bolton during the bilateral meeting between President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (not pictured) on June 30.
19/34 SLIDES KIM HONG-JI/AFP/Getty Images
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha as they wait for South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Trump before an expanded meeting on June 30.
20/34 SLIDES JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump speaks while surrounded by South Korean business leaders at the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 in Seoul.
21/34 SLIDES JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump addresses to South Korean business leaders at the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 in Seoul.
22/34 SLIDES Getty Images
Policemen stand guard along the road before a convoy carrying President Trump travels to the South Korean presidential Blue House on June 30 in Seoul on June 30.
23/34 SLIDES JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
Anti-war activists display a banner reading "Peace Treaty," during a rally urging President Trump to carry out the North Korea-US joint agreement signed in Singapore, on June 30 in Seoul.
24/34 SLIDES JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images
The motorcade of President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travels to the Blue House where they will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on June 30 in Seoul.
25/34 SLIDES BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Senior Adviser Jared Kushner watches as his wife and Adviser to the President, Ivanka Trump holds copies of K-pop band EXO's album Love Shot, as US President Donald Trump waits for a working dinner with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on June 29.
26/34 SLIDES Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in stand together before a working dinner at the tea house on the grounds of the presidential Blue House in Seoul on June 29.
27/34 SLIDES South Korean Presidential Blue House/Getty Images
In this handout image provided by South Korean Presidential Blue House, President Trump, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, attend a dinner on June 29, in Seoul.
28/34 SLIDES Yonhap/Reuters
President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in leave after a banquet, in Seoul, on June 29.
29/34 SLIDES South Korean Presidential Blue House/Getty Images
President Trump talks with former South Korean golfer Se-Ri Pak as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner stand by during a dinner on June 29 in Seoul.
30/34 SLIDES South Korean Presidential Blue House/Getty Images
President Trump talks with South Korean boy band EXO as South Korean President Moon Jae-in stands during a dinner on June 29 in Seoul.
31/34 SLIDES Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
A convoy carrying President Trump makes its way to the South Korean presidential Blue House in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate to the royal Gyeongbokgung Palace of the Joseon dynasty, in Seoul on June 29.
32/34 SLIDES Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
The motorcade of President Trump drives in downtown on June 29 in Seoul.
33/34 SLIDES Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Trump, centre, meets with military official upon his arrival at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, on June 29.
34/34 SLIDES Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Trump arrives at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, on June 29.
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Slideshow by photo services
Trump's summit with Kim in Vietnam earlier this year collapsed without an agreement for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. He became the first sitting U.S. president to meet with the leader of the isolated nation last year, when they signed an agreement in Singapore to bring the North toward denuclearization.
North Korea's nuclear threat has not been contained, Richard Haas, president of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted Sunday. Haas added that the threat of conflict has subsided only because "the Trump administration has decided it can live (with) a (North Korean) nuclear program while it pursues the chimera of denuclearization."
Substantive talks between the nations have largely broken down since the Vietnam summit. The North has balked at Trump's insistence that it give up its weapons before it sees relief from crushing international sanctions. The U.S. has said the North must submit to "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" before sanctions are lifted.
Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the 1953 armistice line, except for George H.W. Bush, who visited when he was vice president. The show of bravado and support for South Korea, one of America's closest military allies, has evolved over the years to include binoculars and bomber jackets.
Trump kept to his blue suit and red tie, but ever the showman, sought to one-up his predecessors with a Kim meeting.
The leaders met at a time of escalating tensions. While North Korea has not recently tested a long-range missile that could reach the U.S., last month it fired off a series of short-range missiles. Trump has brushed off the significance of those tests, even as his own national security adviser, John Bolton, has said they violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.
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