While America was asleep early Sunday morning, history was made.
After leaving the G-20 summit in Japan after its conclusion last week to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in — and later, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to step foot in North Korea.
Only Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have previously visited the isolated Pacific state. Both visited the nation’s capital, Pyongyang, after leaving office.
An impromptu invite
Trump first floated the idea of meeting the North Korean dictator for a handshake at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea in a tweet on Friday.
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(?)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019
The president went on to say that should a meeting materialize, it would be short.
“Virtually a handshake, but that’s OK,” Trump said. “A handshake means a lot.”
History made
But it wasn’t the short meeting that Trump predicted. The leaders spoke for nearly an hour after the history-making moment, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. local time.
Trump and Kim reportedly met, shook hands, and together crossed into North Korea before returning to the south side of the Demarcation Line in the DMZ, where they resumed talks on North Korea’s denuclearization.
“I was proud to step over the line,” Trump later told Kim. “It is a great day for the world.”
For his part, Kim seemed equally pleased with events, saying that Trump’s invitation “surprised” him and that he believes it “is an expression of [Trump’s] willingness to eliminate all the unfortunate past and open a new future.”
An act of conciliation
History-making aside, President Trump’s gesture was clearly designed to do just what Kim said: restore relations with North Korea after things broke down at a February summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. At the summit, Kim was unwilling to give in to Trump’s demands that North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions, which has resulted in harsh U.S. sanctions on the nation.
Talks appeared to halt after that summit was cut short, but after Sunday’s sit-down between Trump and Kim, it now seems that there is a possibility that negotiations will resume.
Both leaders also suggested that more history may be made in the future, with Trump saying he’d invite Kim to the White House, and Kim saying he’d invite Trump to Pyongyang — although both added that such meetings would be possible only “at the right time.”
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