Kim Jong-un meets South Korean leader Moon Jae-in in surprise summit

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
REUTERS
Tom Powell26 May 2018

Kim Jong-un has met South Korean leader Moon Jae-in in a surprise meeting in the demilitarised border area between the two nations.

The pair discussed Kim’s potential meeting with Donald Trump next month – which was cancelled by the US president before he later backtracked and suggested it could still go ahead.

The meeting at a border truce village came hours after South Korea expressed relief over revived talks for the summit between President Trump and Kim.

President Trump later tweeted that the summit, if it does happen, will likely take place on June 12 in Singapore as originally planned.

The two leaders embrace ahead of the surprise summit
AFP/Getty Images

In their first summit in April, the two leaders announced vague aspirations for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and permanent peace, which Seoul has tried to sell as a meaningful breakthrough to set up the summit with President Trump.

But relations between the rival Koreas have chilled in recent weeks, with North Korea cancelling a high-level meeting with Seoul over South Korea's participation in regular military exercises with the United States and insisting that it will not return to talks unless its grievances are resolved.

When President trump announced his meeting with Kim was cancelled, Theresa May released a statement saying that Britain was "disappointed".

She added: "We are disappointed that the meeting will no longer go ahead as planned. We need to see an agreement that can bring about the completely verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and we will continue to work with our partners to this end."

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