The President of the United States Donald Trump reportedly plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on February 27-28.

The meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is planned to take place in Vietnam, Politico reported.

Trump is reportedly expected to formally announce details of his second summit with Kim during his State of the Union address to Congress later on Tuesday night.

Earlier, the US State Department said in a press release that US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was about to travel to Pyongyang on February 6 for talks to prepare for the second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

The long-standing tensions on the Korean Peninsula started to ease after Kim Jong-un committed to denuclearization of Korean peninsula and held historic summits with US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. </s> President Donald Trump arrived Sunday at the Korean Demilitarized Zone for a historic meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Trump departed Seoul aboard the Marine One presidential helicopter afternoon shortly after South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that Kim had accepted Trump's invitation to meet at the heavily fortified site at the Korean border village of Panmunjom.

Trump told reporters before departing that he looked forward to seeing Kim and to "shake hands quickly and say hello." Trump was also expected to visit an observation post and greet U.S. and South Korean troops.

The meeting is set to mark yet another historic first in the yearlong rapprochement between the two technically warring nations. It also marks the return of face-to-face contact between the leaders since negotiations to end the North's nuclear program broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February.

Moon praised the two leaders for "being so brave" to hold the meeting and said, "I hope President Trump will go down in history as the president who achieves peace on Korean Peninsula."

Trump sought to tamp down expectations by saying the meeting would be "very short."

"Virtually a handshake, but that's OK. A handshake means a lot," he said.

Officials spent Sunday morning working out logistical and security details, Trump said during an earlier appearance with Moon.

The invitation, while long rumored in diplomatic circles, still came across as an impulsive display of showmanship by a president bent on obtaining a legacy-defining nuclear deal. North Korea had responded by calling the offer a "very interesting suggestion."

Presidential visits to the DMZ are traditionally carefully guarded secrets for security reasons. Trump claimed before flying from Japan to South Korea that he wasn't even sure Kim was in North Korea to accept the invitation.

"All I did is put out a feeler, if you'd like to meet," Trump said in Japan. He added, somewhat implausibly: "I just thought of it this morning."

Before arriving in Seoul, Trump said at a news conference in Japan that he'd "feel very comfortable" crossing the border into North Korea if Kim showed up, saying he'd "have no problem" becoming the first U.S. president to step into North Korea.

His comments followed hours after Trump asked Kim to meet him 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(?)!" he tweeted.

It was not immediately clear what the agenda, if any, would be for the potential third Trump-Kim meeting.

"It's just a step. It might be an important step but it might not," Trump said.

Such a spectacle would present a valuable propaganda victory for Kim, whose family has long been denied the recognition it sought on the international stage.

Despite Trump's comments Saturday, he had told The Hill newspaper in Washington in an interview this past week that he would visit the DMZ and "might" meet with Kim. The paper reported it had withheld Trump's comments, citing security concerns by the White House.

North Korea's first vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, said the meeting, if realized, would serve as "another meaningful occasion in further deepening the personal relations between the two leaders and advancing the bilateral relations."

Meeting with Trump at South Korea's presidential Blue House on Sunday, Moon said when he saw Trump's invitation to Kim, "I could really feel that the flower of peace was truly blossoming on the Korean peninsula." Moon, who will accompany Trump to the DMZ, added that the meeting - if it happens - would be a "significant milestone in the peace process."

Trump's summit with Kim in Vietnam earlier this year collapsed without an agreement for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. He became the first sitting U.S. president to meet with the leader of the isolated nation last year, when they signed an agreement in Singapore to bring the North toward denuclearization.

Substantive talks between the nations have largely broken down since then. The North has balked at Trump's insistence that it give up its weapons before it sees relief from crushing international sanctions.

Still, Trump has sought to praise Kim, who oversees an authoritarian government, in hopes of keeping the prospects of a deal alive, and the two have traded flowery letters in recent weeks.

Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the 1953 armistice line, except for George H.W. Bush, who visited when he was vice president. The show of bravado and support for South Korea, one of America's closest military allies, has evolved over the years to include binoculars and bomber jackets.

Trump, ever the showman, appears to be looking to one-up his predecessors with a Kim meeting.

Such trips to the demilitarized zone are usually undertaken under heavy security and the utmost secrecy. Trump tried to visit the DMZ when he was in Seoul in November 2017, but his helicopter was grounded by heavy fog.

Trump has staked his self-professed deal-making reputation on his rapprochement with the North and has even turned it into a campaign rallying cry. Trump has repeatedly alleged that if he had lost the 2016 presidential campaign, the U.S. would be "at war" with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The meeting would come at a time of escalating tensions. While North Korea has not recently tested a long-range missile that could reach the U.S., last month it fired off a series of short-range missiles. Trump has brushed off the significance of the tests, even though his national security adviser, John Bolton, has said they violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Darlene Superville and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report. </s> PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter toured the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday, the morning after telling South Korea’s president that she will use her visit to the Pyeongchang Games to advocate maximum pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear program.

Ivanka Trump, who is one of her father’s close advisers, is leading the U.S. delegation at this weekend’s closing ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games. Under cloudy skies, she watched her first event Saturday morning – big-air snowboarding.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in highlighted to Trump how the Olympics have served as a vehicle for dialogue between the two Koreas, and said the U.S. and South Korea should make use of the current mood of rapprochement between the Koreas in seeking denuclearization.

At a closed-door meeting before a banquet Friday night at the presidential compound, Moon told Trump that talks on denuclearization and the inter-Korean dialogue must move forward side by side, Moon’s press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters. Trump responded by pushing for joint efforts by the U.S. and South Korea to apply maximum pressure on North Korea, Yoon said.

The differences in how the U.S. and South Korea hope to achieve denuclearization were also apparent during the banquet. In her remarks, Trump said she was in South Korea to celebrate the Olympics and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a ”maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.”

On Friday, the Trump administration announced sanctions on more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses to turn up the pressure on North Korea. U.S. officials said that Trump had discussed the action with Moon ahead of the announcement in Washington.

In Pyeongchang on Saturday morning, Ivanka Trump watched snowboarders go on runs at the big-air jump. A smiling Trump, wearing a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, chatted with members of her delegation and South Korea first lady Kim Jung-suk. Also with her was IOC board member and 1998 hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero.

A high-level North Korean delegation will also attend Sunday’s Olympic closing ceremony, but the South Korean government said it’s unlikely that Ivanka Trump will meet the North Koreans. Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the Olympics’ opening ceremony, sat awkwardly in a VIP box with the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un behind him. The two had no apparent contact.

Moon hopes to make the Olympics an avenue for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.

”North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas and this has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean relations,” Moon said.

Moon met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, a day after the opening ceremony and urged North Korea to do more to engage in a dialogue with the United States.

While the games appear to have paved the way for possible rapprochement between the Koreas, U.S. and North Korean officials have yet to make direct contact. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said Pence had been set to meet North Korean officials during his visit to South Korea, but that the North Korean side canceled at the last minute.

For now, there are no signs that Ivanka Trump will meet Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who is to attend the closing ceremony.

The White House has emphasized that the purpose of her visit is to celebrate the achievements of the athletes, noting that she is a winter sports enthusiast herself. She is expected to attend the games on Saturday before Sunday’s closing ceremony.

Errin Haines Whack is a national writer for The Associated Press. Youkykung Lee contributed to this report from Seoul. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea plans to send a special envoy to North Korea in response to an invitation from leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in told his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Thursday.

The two presidents discussed recent visits to the South by high-level North Korean officials, the presidential Blue House in Seoul said in a statement.

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang last month gave a boost to recent engagement between the two Koreas after more than a year of sharply rising tensions over the North’s missile programme and its sixth and largest nuclear test in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

“(Moon and Trump) agreed to continue to make efforts to head towards the Korean peninsula’s denuclearisation by maintaining the momentum of South-North dialogue,” the Blue House statement said.

In Washington, a White House statement on the two leaders’ call said Moon briefed Trump“on developments regarding North Korea and inter-Korean talks” but did not elaborate.

“The president wants to continue working with South Korea. It’s a strong ally. We have no daylight between the two of us. We’re going to continue those conversations,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters later on Thursday.

“The ultimate goal is to denuclearise the peninsula. That’s what we’re focused on and we’re excited about any steps moving forward in that process,” she said.

In sending an envoy to Pyongyang, Moon said he would be seeking to reciprocate for the senior delegations sent to the Olympics by Kim Jong Un, including his sister, Kim Yo Jong, the first visit by a member of the North’s ruling bloodline since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Kim Yo Jong delivered her brother’s invitation for Moon to visit Pyongyang. Such a visit would mark the first inter-Korean summit since 2007.

Moon is considering South Korea’s intelligence service chief Suh Hoon and Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon as a possible special envoy to discuss the proposal, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Other candidates include Moon’s chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, the officials said.

Suh and Cho served in an earlier liberal administration that championed the“sunshine” policy of inter-Korean engagement.

A Unification Ministry spokesman told a news briefing on Friday Moon would send an envoy“soon”, once preparations had been made.

Moon also planned to send high-level officials to Washington as early as next week to further facilitate conditions for talks with North Korea, a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

Senior officials from Pyongyang visiting South Korea for the Olympics said on Sunday their government was open to talks with the United States, while the White House said any talks with North Korea must lead to an end of its nuclear programme.

Moon has urged North Korea and the United States to talk to resolve the issue of Pyongyang’s weapons programme, which Kim has said he will never abandon.

Seoul urged Washington and Pyongyang to give ground to allow for talks in the latest attempt to defuse the crisis over North Korea’s weapons programmes.

The North rejected Trump’s claim that he had helped advance inter-Korean talks with his“maximum pressure” campaign.

Washington unveiled its largest package of sanctions against Pyongyang last week as Trump warned of a“phase two” that could be“very, very unfortunate for the world” if the steps did not work.

The North’s official KCNA news agency described the latest sanctions as Trump’s“desperate” effort to stifle the country economically.

“It is really miserable to see that the Trump group clings frenziedly to the sanctions and pressure, still harbouring an illusion that they would work on us,” KCNA said on Thursday, citing a policy research director at the foreign ministry’s Institute for American Studies. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House on May 22, and the two will discuss the upcoming summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said on Friday. </s> South Korean President Moon Jae-In (R) and U.S. President Donald Trump (L) walk towards a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony at the presidential Blue House on November 7, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
• South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday a three-way summit with North Korea and the United States is possible.
• Moon said talks should aim for an end to the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula.
• President Donald Trump has said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday a three-way summit with North Korea and the United States is possible and that talks should aim for an end to the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula.

Moon is planning a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month after a flurry of diplomatic activity in Asia, Europe and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has also said he would meet Kim by the end of May.

"A North Korea-U.S. summit would be a historic event in itself following an inter-Korean summit," Moon said at the presidential Blue House in Seoul after a preparatory meeting for the inter-Korean summit.

"Depending on the location, it could be even more dramatic. And depending on progress, it may lead to a three-way summit between the South, North and the United States," he said.

Seoul officials are considering the border truce village of Panmunjom, where Moon and Kim are set for a one-day meeting, as the venue for talks between not only Kim and Moon but also a possible three-way meeting.

A Blue House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moon did not specifically refer to Panmunjom or that a three-way summit had been discussed with Washington before the president spoke.

The rush of recent diplomatic contacts began in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics in South Korea last month and helped ease tensions on the Korean peninsula caused by North Korea's pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

South Korea wants to hold high-level talks with North Korea on March 29 to discuss a date and agenda for the inter-Korean summit and make a formal request to the North on Thursday, Moon's presidential office said.

North and South Korean officials should be able to agree on when the summit between Moon and Kim will take place once the officials from both sides meet this month, the Blue House official said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets a member of the special delegation of South Korea's President at a dinner in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 6, 2018. KCNA

Moon said the series of summits should aim for a "complete end" to the nuclear and peace issues on the Korean peninsula.

He said he has a "clear goal and vision", which is for the establishment of a lasting peace to replace the ceasefire signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. It also includes the normalization of North Korea-U.S. relations, the development of inter-Korean ties, and economic cooperation involving Pyongyang and Washington, he said.

However, the United States must also add its guarantee in order for peace to come about, Moon said.

"Whether the two Koreas live together or separately, we have to make it in a way that they prosper together and in peace, without interfering or causing damage to each other," Moon said.

The Blue House official said this could mean stopping propaganda broadcasts at the border that are commonly blasted from both sides over loudspeakers. The official could not say whether "interference" also referred to criticism over widely recognized human rights violations in North Korea.

South Korea and the United States will resume joint military drills next month, although the exercises are expected to overlap with the summit between the two Koreas.

Seoul and Washington delayed the annual drills until after the Winter Olympics, helping to foster conditions for a restart of such talks.

North Korea regularly denounces the drills as preparation for war but a South Korean special envoy has said Kim understood that the allies must continue their "routine" exercises. That exchange has not been confirmed.

The North's official KCNA news agency said on Wednesday a "dramatic atmosphere for reconciliation" had been created in cross-border ties and there had also been a sign of change in North Korea-U.S. relations.

That was "thanks to the proactive measure and peace-loving proposal" made by Pyongyang, not Trump's campaign to put maximum pressure on the country, KCNA said in a commentary.

The Blue House official also said earlier on Wednesday South Korea was in discussions with China and Japan for a three-way summit in Tokyo in early May. The three countries have not held such a meeting since November 2015, with relations soured by historical and territorial tensions. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's visit to Asia (all times local):

Democratic lawmakers in the United States, including some running for the White House, say there's little in President Donald Trump's diplomatic track to convince them that his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) may lead to a nuclear breakthrough.

Trump is coming under criticism for what Democrats see as his affinity for authoritarian leaders such as Kim and they are skeptical that the Trump-Kim sit-down at the Demilitarized Zone may amount to anything more than a photo opportunity.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says "dictators seem to get elevated and people who believe in democracy not."

Former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro, a presidential candidate, wonders why Trump appears keen to raise Kim's profile when, according to Castro, Kim hasn't abided by past commitments about the North's weapons programs.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a 2020 candidate, says he's not opposed to sitting down with America's adversaries, but he tells ABC's "This Week" that "we need real diplomacy" and he hasn't seen that under Trump

"A wonderful meeting" is how President Donald Trump is describing his get-together with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

As Trump was leaving South Korea and ending his four-day trip to Asia, he tweeted about becoming the first American president to set foot in North Korea.

"Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor!" Trump said in his tweet.

After their meeting Sunday, Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington after a four-day trip to Asia during which he became the first American president to set foot in North Korea.

Trump attended the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where he held talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin (POO'-tihn) and met with China's Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng). Trump and Xi decided to resume trade negotiations after talks broke down.

Trump then headed to South Korea, where he turned a planned visit to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South into a surprise get-together with the North's Kim Jong Un. The two leaders crossed the demarcation dividing the Korean Peninsula.

Following their longer-than-expected meeting, Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump has addressed members of the U.S military at an American air base in Osan, just south of Seoul, South Korea, before ending his Asia trip and returning to Washington.

Trump recounted the moment earlier Sunday when he stepped across the border at the demilitarized zone into North Korea and became the first sitting U.S. president to do so.

He says he and North Korea's Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) "had a very productive meeting" there. And Trump says he tried to sell Kim on the prosperity he believes awaits North Korea if it gives up its nuclear program.

During his remarks to the service members, Trump called up to the stage both U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a top White House adviser. He jokingly called them "beauty and the beast."

President Donald Trump says that sanctions remain on North Korea following his Sunday meeting with Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

But he appears to be leaving open the possibility of scaling them back as part of upcoming renewed negotiations, saying that: "at some point during the negotiation, things can happen."

Trump is also telling reporters after bidding Kim farewell that he raised the idea of a Kim visit to Washington during their talks.

Trump says he told Kim that, "at the right time, you're going to come over" and that that could be "any time he wants to do it."

Trump adds that he "would certainly extend the invite" and that, "at some point" it will happen.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. and North Korea have designated teams to resume stalled nuclear talks between the nations within weeks.

Trump shared the news as he briefed reporters after spending about 50 minutes in talks behind closed doors with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump says he hopes the sides can reach a comprehensive deal, but says that "speed is not the object."

He says: "We're not looking for speed. We're looking to get it right."

What was originally supposed to be a brief exchange of pleasantries between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the raised line of concrete marking the border between North and South has turned into private talks stretching about 50 minutes.

Trump had tweeted out his last-minute invitation to Kim, suggesting the North Korean leader meet him "at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!" during a long-scheduled visit.

Trump later said that if Kim made the trip, the two would "see each other for two minutes," adding: "That's all we can. But that will be fine. "

Trump and Kim's second summit in Hanoi earlier this year ended without a deal.

Trump was joined in the Freedom House conversation with Kim by his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un are concluding a 50-minute meeting at the Demilitarized Zone.

Trump escorted Kim from "Freedom House" on the South Korean side of the zone back to the concrete line marking the border between the two nations.

Trump says, "We just had a very good meeting with Chairman Kim."

He adds: "This was a very legendary, very historic day."

President Donald Trump's historic first steps into North Korea sparked a scuffle between reporters and North Korean security guards, with officials shoving and trying to block the press.

Also roughed up in the fracas was incoming Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who ended up with bruises.

The jostling grew especially intense as reporters tried to enter a room inside the Freedom House on the southern side of Panmunjom where Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un were meeting after exchanging initial handshakes on the border.

North Korean guards tried to physically prevent members of the U.S. press pool from entering the room, pushing and shoving, and the Secret Service stepped in to intervene.

President Donald Trump says he "was proud" to step over the demarcation line between North and South Korea, becoming the first U.S. president to enter North Korea.

Trump is telling reporters as he meets with Kim Jong Un in a building named The Freedom House on the South Korean side that "the world is watching."

He's also thanking Kim, saying that if the North Korean leader hadn't shown up for the meeting, the press would have made Trump look bad.

Kim said he was surprised by Trump's last-minute invitation to meet at the Korean Demilitarized Zone on Sunday. But he says he hopes the meeting "can be the foundation for better things in the future."

President Donald Trump is calling it a "great honor" to have become the first American president to cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone into North Korea.

Trump tells reporters as he stands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that it "feels great" to make the historical walk as he hails his "great friendship" with Kim.

Speaking through a translator, Kim commended Trump for crossing the demarcation line, which he called a "courageous and determined act" that "means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past."

Trump also said he would invite Kim to visit the White House moments after Kim crossed the demarcation line himself and entered into South Korea.

President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un shook hands across the border at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, in an historic photo-op as Trump seeks to make a legacy-defining nuclear deal with the North.

It is the third time the two leaders have met, and the first since a failed summit on the North's nuclear program in Vietnam earlier this year. Trump briefly crossed the border into North Korea after greeting Kim.

There are as yet no indications of a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations to end the North's nuclear program.

President Donald Trump is meeting with several dozen troops stationed at the Korean Demilitarized Zone separating South and North Korea and telling them, "We're with you all the way."

The troops include both U.S. solders as well as South Korean troops.

Trump was joined by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is praising Trump for deciding to meet shortly with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. He's calling it "a bold decision"

Trump has at times appeared to question the value of keeping U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula in light of the U.S.-South Korea trade deficit.

President Donald Trump is griping about the press not giving him sufficient credit for improved U.S. relations with North Korea as he pays an historic visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Trump is telling reporters as he stands atop Observation Post Ouellette that there has been "tremendous" improvement since his first meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year.

Trump says the situation used to be marked by "tremendous danger," but that, "After our first summit, all of the danger went away."

And he's chastising reporters, saying "they have no appreciation for" for changes in the North, which he's calling a "very different place."

Trump has been criticized for meeting again with Kim when the North continues to test short-range missiles and has not moved forward with a pledge to denuclearize.

President Donald Trump is getting his first glimpse of North Korea from an observation post in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Trump, wearing a suit, is being shown various landmarks as he stands atop Observation Post Ouellette.

It's his first stop on his first visit to the border between the North and the South, which will include another face-to-face meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. His last attempted visit was thwarted by bad weather.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced earlier Sunday that Kim had accepted Trump's tweeted invitation to meet at the heavily fortified site at the Korean border village of Panmunjom

President Donald Trump is making his first visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone ahead of a meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Trump arrived by helicopter Sunday near the Panmunjom truce village. He was also expected to visit an observation post and greet U.S. and South Korean troops.

Trump told reporters at a news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he and Kim will "just shake hands quickly and say hello" at the historic meeting at the Korean border village.

Trump on Saturday invited Kim to meet him at the border for a symbolic handshake. He expressed openness to briefly crossing into North Korean territory if Kim accepted.

Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the 1953 armistice line, except for George H.W. Bush, who visited as vice president. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia (all times local):

North Korea’s state media is describing leader Kim Jong Un’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the Demilitarized Zone as “an amazing event” in the border village it notes is a symbol of the Korean Peninsula’s division.

The Korean Central News Agency reports that the two leaders expressed great satisfaction over the results of their talks. Also included in the state media report is a description of Kim exchanging “warm greetings” with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in.

Trump and Kim agreed to restart negotiations designed to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, a point included in the state media recap of the event.

The DMZ meeting on Sunday was an unexpected addition to Trump’s Asia trip. He became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.

Democratic lawmakers in the United States, including some running for the White House, say there’s little in President Donald Trump’s diplomatic track to convince them that his meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) may lead to a nuclear breakthrough.

Trump is coming under criticism for what Democrats see as his affinity for authoritarian leaders such as Kim and they are skeptical that the Trump-Kim sit-down at the Demilitarized Zone may amount to anything more than a photo opportunity.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says “dictators seem to get elevated and people who believe in democracy not.”

Former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro, a presidential candidate, wonders why Trump appears keen to raise Kim’s profile when, according to Castro, Kim hasn’t abided by past commitments about the North’s weapons programs.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a 2020 candidate, says he’s not opposed to sitting down with America’s adversaries, but he tells ABC’s “This Week” that “we need real diplomacy” and he hasn’t seen that under Trump

“A wonderful meeting” is how President Donald Trump is describing his get-together with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

As Trump was leaving South Korea and ending his four-day trip to Asia, he tweeted about becoming the first American president to set foot in North Korea.

“Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor!” Trump said in his tweet.

After their meeting Sunday, Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington after a four-day trip to Asia during which he became the first American president to set foot in North Korea.

Trump attended the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where he held talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin (POO’-tihn) and met with China’s Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng). Trump and Xi decided to resume trade negotiations after talks broke down.

Trump then headed to South Korea, where he turned a planned visit to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South into a surprise get-together with the North’s Kim Jong Un. The two leaders crossed the demarcation dividing the Korean Peninsula.

Following their longer-than-expected meeting, Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump has addressed members of the U.S military at an American air base in Osan, just south of Seoul, South Korea, before ending his Asia trip and returning to Washington.

Trump recounted the moment earlier Sunday when he stepped across the border at the demilitarized zone into North Korea and became the first sitting U.S. president to do so.

He says he and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) “had a very productive meeting” there. And Trump says he tried to sell Kim on the prosperity he believes awaits North Korea if it gives up its nuclear program.

During his remarks to the service members, Trump called up to the stage both U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a top White House adviser. He jokingly called them “beauty and the beast.”

President Donald Trump says that sanctions remain on North Korea following his Sunday meeting with Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

But he appears to be leaving open the possibility of scaling them back as part of upcoming renewed negotiations, saying that: “at some point during the negotiation, things can happen.”

Trump is also telling reporters after bidding Kim farewell that he raised the idea of a Kim visit to Washington during their talks.

Trump says he told Kim that, “at the right time, you’re going to come over” and that that could be “any time he wants to do it.”

Trump adds that he “would certainly extend the invite” and that, “at some point” it will happen.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. and North Korea have designated teams to resume stalled nuclear talks between the nations within weeks.

Trump shared the news as he briefed reporters after spending about 50 minutes in talks behind closed doors with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump says he hopes the sides can reach a comprehensive deal, but says that “speed is not the object.”

He says: “We’re not looking for speed. We’re looking to get it right.”

What was originally supposed to be a brief exchange of pleasantries between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at the raised line of concrete marking the border between North and South has turned into private talks stretching about 50 minutes.

Trump had tweeted out his last-minute invitation to Kim, suggesting the North Korean leader meet him “at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” during a long-scheduled visit.

Trump later said that if Kim made the trip, the two would “see each other for two minutes,” adding: “That’s all we can. But that will be fine. “

Trump and Kim’s second summit in Hanoi earlier this year ended without a deal.

Trump was joined in the Freedom House conversation with Kim by his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are concluding a 50-minute meeting at the Demilitarized Zone.

Trump escorted Kim from “Freedom House” on the South Korean side of the zone back to the concrete line marking the border between the two nations.

Trump says, “We just had a very good meeting with Chairman Kim.”

He adds: “This was a very legendary, very historic day.”

President Donald Trump’s historic first steps into North Korea sparked a scuffle between reporters and North Korean security guards, with officials shoving and trying to block the press.

Also roughed up in the fracas was incoming Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who ended up with bruises.

The jostling grew especially intense as reporters tried to enter a room inside the Freedom House on the southern side of Panmunjom where Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un were meeting after exchanging initial handshakes on the border.

North Korean guards tried to physically prevent members of the U.S. press pool from entering the room, pushing and shoving, and the Secret Service stepped in to intervene.

President Donald Trump says he “was proud” to step over the demarcation line between North and South Korea, becoming the first U.S. president to enter North Korea.

Trump is telling reporters as he meets with Kim Jong Un in a building named The Freedom House on the South Korean side that “the world is watching.”

He’s also thanking Kim, saying that if the North Korean leader hadn’t shown up for the meeting, the press would have made Trump look bad.

Kim said he was surprised by Trump’s last-minute invitation to meet at the Korean Demilitarized Zone on Sunday. But he says he hopes the meeting “can be the foundation for better things in the future.”

President Donald Trump is calling it a “great honor” to have become the first American president to cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone into North Korea.

Trump tells reporters as he stands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that it “feels great” to make the historical walk as he hails his “great friendship” with Kim.

Speaking through a translator, Kim commended Trump for crossing the demarcation line, which he called a “courageous and determined act” that “means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past.”

Trump also said he would invite Kim to visit the White House moments after Kim crossed the demarcation line himself and entered into South Korea.

President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un shook hands across the border at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, in an historic photo-op as Trump seeks to make a legacy-defining nuclear deal with the North.

It is the third time the two leaders have met, and the first since a failed summit on the North’s nuclear program in Vietnam earlier this year. Trump briefly crossed the border into North Korea after greeting Kim.

There are as yet no indications of a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations to end the North’s nuclear program.

President Donald Trump is meeting with several dozen troops stationed at the Korean Demilitarized Zone separating South and North Korea and telling them, “We’re with you all the way.”

The troops include both U.S. solders as well as South Korean troops.

Trump was joined by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is praising Trump for deciding to meet shortly with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He’s calling it “a bold decision”

Trump has at times appeared to question the value of keeping U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula in light of the U.S.-South Korea trade deficit.

President Donald Trump is griping about the press not giving him sufficient credit for improved U.S. relations with North Korea as he pays an historic visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Trump is telling reporters as he stands atop Observation Post Ouellette that there has been “tremendous” improvement since his first meeting with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year.

Trump says the situation used to be marked by “tremendous danger,” but that, “After our first summit, all of the danger went away.”

And he’s chastising reporters, saying “they have no appreciation for” for changes in the North, which he’s calling a “very different place.”

Trump has been criticized for meeting again with Kim when the North continues to test short-range missiles and has not moved forward with a pledge to denuclearize.

President Donald Trump is getting his first glimpse of North Korea from an observation post in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Trump, wearing a suit, is being shown various landmarks as he stands atop Observation Post Ouellette.

It’s his first stop on his first visit to the border between the North and the South, which will include another face-to-face meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. His last attempted visit was thwarted by bad weather.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced earlier Sunday that Kim had accepted Trump’s tweeted invitation to meet at the heavily fortified site at the Korean border village of Panmunjom

President Donald Trump is making his first visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone ahead of a meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Trump arrived by helicopter Sunday near the Panmunjom truce village. He was also expected to visit an observation post and greet U.S. and South Korean troops.

Trump told reporters at a news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he and Kim will “just shake hands quickly and say hello” at the historic meeting at the Korean border village.

Trump on Saturday invited Kim to meet him at the border for a symbolic handshake. He expressed openness to briefly crossing into North Korean territory if Kim accepted.

Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the 1953 armistice line, except for George H.W. Bush, who visited as vice president.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. </s> PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter toured the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday, the morning after telling South Korea’s president that she will use her visit to the Pyeongchang Games to advocate maximum pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear program.

Ivanka Trump, who is one of her father’s close advisers, is leading the U.S. delegation at this weekend’s closing ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games. Under cloudy skies, she watched her first event Saturday morning – Big Air snowboarding.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in highlighted to Trump how the Olympics have served as a vehicle for dialogue between the two Koreas, and said the U.S. and South Korea should make use of the current mood of rapprochement between the Koreas in seeking denuclearization.

At a closed-door meeting before a banquet Friday night at the presidential compound, Moon told Trump that talks on denuclearization and the inter-Korean dialogue must move forward side by side, Moon’s press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters. Trump responded by pushing for joint efforts by the U.S. and South Korea to apply maximum pressure on North Korea, Yoon said.

The differences in how the U.S. and South Korea hope to achieve denuclearization were also apparent during the banquet. In her remarks, Trump said she was in South Korea to celebrate the Olympics and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a ”maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.”

On Friday, the Trump administration announced sanctions on more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses to turn up the pressure on North Korea. U.S. officials said that Trump had discussed the action with Moon ahead of the announcement in Washington.

In Pyeongchang on Saturday morning, Ivanka Trump watched snowboarders go on runs at the Big Air jump and saw American snowboarder Kyle Mack take a silver medal.

A smiling Trump, wearing a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, chatted with members of her delegation and South Korea first lady Kim Jung-suk. Also with her was IOC board member and 1998 hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero.

After the event ended, Trump spoke with some of the South Korean athletes who were guests of the delegation and posed for selfies.

A high-level North Korean delegation will also attend Sunday’s Olympic closing ceremony, but the South Korean government said it’s unlikely that Ivanka Trump will meet the North Koreans. Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the Olympics’ opening ceremony, sat awkwardly in a VIP box with the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un behind him. The two had no apparent contact.

Moon hopes to make the Olympics an avenue for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.

”North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas and this has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean relations,” Moon said.

Moon met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, a day after the opening ceremony and urged North Korea to do more to engage in a dialogue with the United States.

While the games appear to have paved the way for possible rapprochement between the Koreas, U.S. and North Korean officials have yet to make direct contact. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said Pence had been set to meet North Korean officials during his visit to South Korea, but that the North Korean side canceled at the last minute.

For now, there are no signs that Ivanka Trump will meet Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who is to attend the closing ceremony.

The White House has emphasized that the purpose of her visit is to celebrate the achievements of the athletes, noting that she is a winter sports enthusiast herself. She is expected to attend the games on Saturday before Sunday’s closing ceremony.

Errin Haines Whack is a national writer for The Associated Press. Youkykung Lee contributed to this report from Seoul.
U.S. President Donald Trump, together with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Joint Security Area, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to step foot in North Korea. Trump also invites Kim to the White House to resume talks about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.