Pyongyang [North Korea]: Hours After Donald Trump proposed a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border, Pyongyang on Saturday called the invitation a “very interesting suggestion” that can advance their bilateral relations.
“We see it as a very interesting suggestion, but we have not received an official proposal in this regard,” Yonhap News Agency quoted North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.
“I am of the view that if the DPRK-U.S. summit meetings take place on the division line, as is intended by President Trump, it would serve as another meaningful occasion in further deepening the personal relations between the two leaders and advancing the bilateral relations,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Trump said he is willing to meet Kim at the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea, even if just to “say hello.”
“After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” the US President tweeted.
The White House is yet to disclose Trump’s specific plans in South Korea.
Trump, who is visiting Osaka for 14th G-20 Summit, had sent a personal letter the North Korea leader earlier this week.
Kim had described the content of the letter as “excellent” and “interesting” and appreciated the “political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report, cited by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, said.
Talks between the two countries hit a roadblock after the second Summit in Vietnam ended abruptly with no joint statement being released. The two sides reportedly failed to resolve their differences over sanction waiver.
The possibility of an agreement between the two countries has apparently suffered a setback after North Korea tested multiple short-range missiles last month as a sign of apparent frustration over the stalled negotiations and continuing sanctions.
Pyongyang has repeatedly insisted that the removal of penalties will help spur economic growth, while Washington has reaffirmed that sanctions will not be removed till the communist country completely stopped its nuclear weapons programme.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]