US President Donald Trump has shaken hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Trump is the first sitting US president to visit the DMZ.
“I feel great. It is an honor to be here,” Trump told reporters after he briefly crossed into North Korea. “I was proud to step over the line,” he told Kim.
He also said he would invite Kim to the White House, as he hailed his “great friendship” with Kim.
Kim said that his “wonderful” relationship with Trump would enable North Korea and the US to get over obstructions to their stalled nuclear talks.
“I am convinced our relationship will enable us to overcome barriers standing in the way,” said Kim, adding that his close ties with the US leader made the DMZ meeting possible ”just overnight.”
‘Handshake for peace’
Trump, who is on a visit to South Korea, earlier confirmed that he would meet Kim at the DMZ that separates the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in had said earlier on Sunday that Kim and Trump “will have a handshake for peace standing at Panmunjom, the symbol of division,” referring to the “truce village” in the DMZ.
The DMZ has layers of barbed wire, mines and other security measures, as the two Koreas are still technically at war.
Trump held talks with Kim in Vietnam in February. The Hanoi summit followed on from an unprecedented meeting between the leaders in Singapore last June. Then, Kim pledged to work toward the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, without providing a clear timetable or roadmap.
Washington and Pyongyang blame each other for the impasse, but Trump is hopeful for a breakthrough.
Experts have warned that North Korea may never agree to fully give up its nuclear ambitions, which they say Pyongyang views as vital for regime survival.
A short meeting
Ahead of the meeting, the US president once again spoke about his good relationship with Kim, hailing a “certain chemistry” between them.
Although his previous two meetings with the North Korean leader didn’t yield any result, Trump said he was “in no rush” to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.