WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday said the date and location have been set for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which would be announced soon, and hinted at progress in winning the release of three Americans held in North Korea.

The White House has said the first meeting between sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders could take place in the coming weeks. Trump is expected to push for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

“We’re having very substantive talks with North Korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the (U.S.) hostages. I think you’re going to see very good things,” Trump told reporters.

The U.S. government is looking into reports that three Americans arrested in recent years in North Korea had recently been relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang, as expectations grow that they will be released before the summit.

Trump said this week that the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Korea would be an excellent venue for the planned summit, but that Singapore was also a possible site.

The Peace House at the DMZ was the venue for a meeting last month between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Trump also told reporters on Friday that he was not considering reducing the U.S. military’s presence in South Korea as part of the negotiations.

“Troops are not on the table,” he said before a flight to Dallas, Texas, where he will address the National Rifle Association. </s> President Donald Trump on Friday said the date and location have been set for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which would be announced soon, and hinted at progress in winning the release of three Americans held in North Korea. The White House has said the first meeting between sitting US and North Korean leaders could take place in the coming weeks. Trump is expected to push for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

“We’re having very substantive talks with North Korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the (US) hostages. I think you’re going to see very good things,” Trump told reporters. The US government is looking into reports that three Americans arrested in recent years in North Korea had recently been relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang, as expectations grow that they will be released before the summit.

Trump said this week that the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Korea would be an excellent venue for the planned summit, but that Singapore was also a possible site. The Peace House at the DMZ was the venue for a meeting last month between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Trump also told reporters on Friday that he was not considering reducing the US military’s presence in South Korea as part of the negotiations. “Troops are not on the table,” he said before a flight to Dallas, Texas, where he will address the National Rifle Association.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> The Latest: Trump says he favors border for NKorea meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S. policy on North Korea (all times local):

President Donald Trump says he may favor the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea for his proposed summit with the North's dictator Kim Jong Un.

Trump said Monday that "there's something that I like" about meeting at the border known as the Demilitarized Zone "because you're there."

The president also said that if the talks were successful, the "celebration" at the border would be memorable.

United States and North Korean officials are still negotiating the timing and location of the possible summit.

Trump said a number of other countries were also being considered, including Singapore.

Kim met with this South Korean counterpart, President Moon Jae-in, at the DMZ for talks last week. Trump tried to visit the DMZ while in Asia in November but was thwarted by fog.

President Donald Trump is questioning whether a potential meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be held in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas.

Trump says on Twitter Monday: "Numerous countries are being considered for the MEETING, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the Border of North & South Korea, be a more Representative, Important and Lasting site than a third party country? Just asking!"

Trump said over the weekend that the time and location of the meeting with Kim are being set. It is tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Kim and South Korea President Moon Jae-in have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. </s> The border between the two Koreas might be a possible venue for the summit in May between North Korea's supreme leader and the United States president, a South Korean government spokesperson told EFE Sunday.

"Places like Switzerland, Sweden or the (South Korean) island of Jeju have possibilities (of becoming the host venue), although we consider the Joint Security Area (JSA) as a major option," explained a spokesperson for the Seoul presidential office. </s> SEOUL: North and South Korea began dismantling loudspeakers that blared propaganda across their heavily fortified border on Tuesday (May 1), South Korea's defense ministry said, fulfilling a promise made at last week's historic summit.

The moves are the first practical, if small, steps toward reconciliation and come after an agreement in the joint declaration signed at Friday's summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North's Kim Jong Un.

Activity at several spots along the border indicated North Koreans were taking down the speakers, a defense official said. South Korea started doing the same at 2pm local time, he said.

For decades, with only a few breaks, the two sides have pumped out propaganda from huge banks of speakers as a form of psychological warfare. The South broadcast a mixture of news, Korean pop songs and criticism of the northern regime, while the North blasted the southern government and praised its own socialist system.

As a sign of goodwill, the South had stopped its propaganda ahead of the summit, and the North followed suit.

In another small sign after Friday's summit, North Korea said Monday it would shift its clocks forward half an hour to align with its southern neighbour starting May 5.

The incremental steps come amid speculation about where Kim will meet US President Donald Trump, who said their planned summit could take place in three or four weeks.

Trump tweeted Monday that meeting Kim at the Peace House in the demilitarised zone, where Moon met Kim, would be an excellent venue.

"There's something that I like about it because you're there, you're actually there. Where, if things work out, there's a great celebration to be had on the site, not in a third-party country," Trump later told reporters at the White House.

But a senior US official said Singapore was still high on the list of potential sites.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday Singapore had not had any request to host the Kim-Trump meeting.

South Korea's presidential Blue House seemed to welcome the prospect of hosting the meeting in Panmunjom, the border village where the Peace House is located.

"Panmunjom is quite meaningful as a place to erode the divide and establish a new milestone for peace," a senior presidential official told reporters, asking not be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. "Wouldn't Panmunjom be the most symbolic place?" </s> President Donald Trump announced Friday that a date and location has been set for a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“We now have a date and we have a location, we’ll be announcing it soon,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, right before he left Washington, D.C., for Texas.

According to Reuters, the White House will be revealing both the date and location in an upcoming statement. The news hints at progress in regard to the potential release of three Americans currently being held by the foreign regime.

Reports that the three Americans, who had been arrested and held in a labor camp, were recently moved to a hotel in Pyongyang are currently being investigated by the U.S. government.

“They are staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Pyongyang,” said Choi Sung-ryong, a South Korean activist with contacts in North Korea, according to South China Morning Post.

Two of the hostages were detained in 2017, after Trump assumed the presidency.

White House officials have been hopeful that Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Dong-chul will be released by the regime before the summit between Trump and Kim.

“We’re having very substantive talks with North Korea and a lot of things have already happened with regard to the (U.S.) hostages,” Trump told reporters. “I think you’re going to be seeing very good things.”

The president is also expected to push the North Korean leader to give up his country’s nuclear weapons.

The president said Friday that, as part of negotiations, he would consider reducing the U.S. military presence along the South Korean border.

Such a reduction would not come immediately, Trump said, but it could be an option in the long term.

“Now I have to tell you, at some point into the future, I would like to save the money. You know, we have 32,000 troops there,” Trump said.

Though no location for the summit has been given as of yet, Trump hinted earlier this week that the demilitarized zone between both North and South Korea would be a prime spot, though he said that Singapore would also be an excellent venue.

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The Peace House at the DMZ was the chosen location for a meeting that took place last month between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

As reported by The Western Journal, the historic meeting saw both officials agree to seek peace and officially end the Korean War. Kim and Moon shook hands in a show of unity — a gesture that the citizens of North Korea did not see, at least in real time.

“North Korean media will cut and splice to show Kim in the most favorable light, and ideally in a superior position to his southern counterpart,” said Euan Graham, the Lowy Institute’s international security director.

Graham added that the chance for embarrassment on live TV poses too great a risk for the North Korean dictator, so it is rarely an option for his regime.

Graham said he wasn’t surprised by the move to shun the live broadcast, as it was “the same for the Winter Olympics.”

What do you think? Scroll down to comment below. </s> U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the date and location have been set for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, building suspense for the unprecedented talks, as South Korea said it would oppose a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the area.

The White House has said the first meeting between sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders could take place in the coming weeks and that it will announce the details soon. Trump is to push North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

The demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Korea, and Singapore are among the top choices being considered for the summit. Trump this week expressed a preference for the DMZ but also said Singapore was possible.

The Peace House at the DMZ was the venue for a meeting last month between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, met with his South Korean counterpart, Chung Eui-yong, at the White House on Friday.

Chung told reporters afterward that it was "unacceptable that the issue of the U.S. Forces Korea keeps being raised."

The New York Times said Trump had asked the Pentagon for withdrawal options, although Trump said it was not true and Bolton called the report "utter nonsense."

"Now, I have to tell you, at some point into the future, I would like to save the money," Trump told reporters. "But troops are not on the table."

Trump, a former reality TV star who likes to build suspense about upcoming presidential news, did not give a date or location for the North Korea summit and White House officials did not immediately provide further clarity.

He told the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Dallas that he had toned down his rhetoric in anticipation of the talks after labeling Kim "Little Rocket Man" last year and threatening him with "fire and fury."

"I won't use the rhetoric now," he said. "Now I'm trying to calm it down a little bit."

The U.S. government is looking into reports that three Americans arrested in recent years in North Korea had recently been relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang, as expectations grow that they will be released before the summit.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Thursday that if North Korea were to free the three Americans, "We certainly would see this as a sign of good will" ahead of the Trump-Kim summit.

Trump, speaking to reporters outside the White House, suggested activity was under way involving the captives.

"We're having very substantive talks with North Korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the (U.S.) hostages. I think you're going to see very good things," Trump told reporters. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korean officials began high-level negotiations on Monday, with one South Korean newspaper report suggesting the two sides could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in April at a truce village along their mutual border and agreed to have another summit in autumn, this time in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang.

A South Korean delegation led by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon began the latest round of talks with counterparts led by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s reunification committee, at the truce village of Panmunjom.

“As the Pyongyang summit of the leaders of North and South Korea is being pursued, I believe that we can give concrete answers to the problems that the people hope and wish for,” Ri said during the talks, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper reported earlier on Monday that the next summit could be held as soon as late August.

The schedule had mostly been coordinated with North Korea and the summit would likely be held in Pyongyang, it said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Sunday officials hoped such details would be decided at Monday’s talks.

“We hope that the timing, venue and the size of the delegation that will visit North Korea will be decided,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, declining to comment on specifics.

North Korea’s Kim has a held a flurry of diplomatic summits with the leaders of South Korea, China, and the United States this year.

Moon and Kim also had a surprise meeting at the border in May, making Moon the only South Korean leader to have met a North Korean leader twice. A visit by Moon to Pyongyang would be the first to be held this year in North Korea’s capital.

The North has been heavily sanctioned over its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles but Kim and Trump agreed at their landmark summit in Singapore in June to work toward the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has denounced U.S.-led efforts to maintain sanctions despite what Pyongyang says are goodwill gestures, including halting its weapons testing and returning the remains of U.S. troops killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

U.S. officials familiar with the talks, however, told Reuters that North Korea had yet to agree to a timeline for eliminating its nuclear arsenal or to disclose its size, which U.S. estimates have put at between 30 and 60 warheads. </s> BANGKOK — A second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is set for Vietnam’s capital from Feb. 27-28.

Trump and Kim met last June in Singapore, outreach the American president has said opened a path to peace. But that face-to-face hasn’t resulted in any solid plan for ridding the North of nuclear weapons.

The Singapore summit made history by simply being the first-ever meeting between sitting leaders of the longtime enemies. It was filled with pageantry and memorable moments, such as the first handshake, walks in a garden, and a brief glimpse inside Trump’s limousine.

This time, observers will be looking for something more concrete.

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The summit is considering to take place at the Peace House at the DMZ, where the North-South Korea summit was also held.