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> 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> GOYANG, South Korea (AP) – The Latest on the summit between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea (all times local):

North and South Korea have agreed to stop all hostile acts over “land, sea and air” that can cause military tensions and clashes, after a summit between their leaders at a border truce village.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced Friday that starting May 1 they will suspend all loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts the countries have been blaring at each other across their heavily-armed border. They will also dismantle broadcasting equipment.

The Koreas also agreed to stop flying propaganda leaflets across their border.

The countries also agreed to take steps to defuse the relatively frequent clashes around their western maritime border by designating the area as a “peace zone” and guarantee safe operations of fishermen from both countries.

The Koreas plan to hold military talks in May to further discuss reducing tensions.

The two Koreas have agreed for South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in to visit Pyongyang sometime this autumn.

The agreement came after a historic summit between the leaders of the two Koreas at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday.

A joint statement didn’t say when Moon would visit Pyongyang. But it says Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet on a regular basis and exchange calls via a recently established hotline.

North and South Korea have agreed to open a permanent communication office in the North Korean town of Kaesong and resume temporary reunions between relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War following a historic summit between their leaders.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in also said after their summit on Friday that the Koreas will seek to expand civilian exchanges and pursue joint sports and cultural events.

The family reunions are expected to take place around Aug. 15, an anniversary for both Koreas celebrating their peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule after the end of World War II.

Koreas plan to hold high-level talks and other negotiations to fulfill the agreements made at the summit.

North and South Korea say they will jointly push for talks with the United State and also potentially China to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War, which stopped in an armistice and left the Koreas still technically at war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced after their summit on Friday that the Koreas will push for three-way talks including Washington or four-way talks that also include Beijing on converting the armistice into a peace treaty and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The Koreas said they hope the parties will be able to declare an official end to the war by the end of this year.

While President Donald Trump has given his “blessing” for the Koreas to discuss an end to the war, there can be no real solution without the involvement of Washington and other parties that fought in the war because South Korea wasn’t a direct signatory to the armistice that stopped the fighting.

The two Koreas have agreed to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons but failed to provide any new specific measures how to achieve that.

A joint statement issued after their leaders’ talks Friday says the two Koreas confirmed their goal of achieving “a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization.”

North Korea has placed its nukes up for negotiations. It has previously used the term “denuclearization” to say it can disarm only when the United States withdraws its 28,500 troops in South Korea.

The statement didn’t say what other specific disarmament steps North Korea would take.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are walking back to a building at a border truce village to resume their summit after talking privately for around 30 minutes at a nearby bridge.

Kim and Moon, after their afternoon session, are expected to jointly announce the outcome of their meeting.

The statement is expected to be announced in about an hour.

China has welcomed the summit between its ally North Korea and South Korea, saying it applauds the countries’ leaders for taking a “historic step” toward peace.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a briefing Friday that Beijing wishes that the meeting between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will achieve a “positive result.”

Hua quoted the famed Chinese writer Lu Xun: “After all of the suffering, the brotherly friendship still exists; with a smile, let’s forget about the debt of gratitude and revenge.”

Hua says China looks forward to taking this summit as an opportunity to expand into a “new journey of long-term peace and stability on the peninsula.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are talking privately for more than 20 minutes, sitting on chairs at a blue bridge inside a border truce village where Moon is hosting Kim for a summit.

The leaders on Friday walked unaccompanied to the bridge for a private conversation before they are expected to resume the afternoon session of the summit. It isn’t immediately clear what is being said between the leaders.

South Korea’s presidential office said earlier Moon expressed satisfaction after the first round of talks with Kim at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The office says the leaders discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that working level officials from both countries are working on a joint statement.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have poured a mixture of soil and water from both countries onto a pine tree they planted at a truce village as a symbol of peace before resuming their highly anticipated summit.

Kim and Moon have also unveiled a stone plaque placed next to the tree that was engraved with a message saying “Peace and Prosperity Are Planted.”

The pine tree dates to 1953, the year the Korean War ended in an armistice. The soil and water were brought from the Koreas’ mountains and rivers.

The leaders then talked while walking unaccompanied on a nearby bridge before they are expected to resume the afternoon session of their summit at Panmunjom.

Kim at one point was seen waving away photographers as he and Moon continued their talks sitting on chairs placed at the bridge.

A Japanese Cabinet official says his government and the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1980s and 1990s are closely watching the inter-Korean summit in hopes the two leaders discuss the issue.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in aremeeting Friday in the border village of Panmunjom.

Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s minister for the abduction issue, says he hopes progress will be made at an upcoming summit that Kim is expected to hold with President Donald Trump.

Tokyo has asked Seoul and Washington to press Kim to resolve the decades-old problem. Pyongyang has acknowledged abducting 13 Japanese decades ago. Five of them returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang says the eight others have died, but Japan believes they could be alive.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is welcoming the summit between the two Koreas but says he doesn’t expect any great breakthrough that might curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Johnson told reporters at NATO headquarters Friday, “I am very encouraged by what’s happening.”

He says: “I don’t think that anybody looking at the history of North Korea’s plans to develop a nuclear weapon would want to be over-optimistic at this point. But it is clearly good news that the two leaders are meeting. Absolutely.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are expected to jointly announce the outcome of their summit in a few hours.

South Korea’s presidential office said earlier Friday Moon expressed satisfaction after the first round of talks with Kim at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The office says the leaders discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that working level officials from both countries are working on a joint statement.

The leaders will resume their meetings in the afternoon after planting a memorial tree. Moon’s office says he and Kim are expected to announce the results of their meeting before attending a dinner banquet scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Moon’s office says the banquet will be also attended by the wives of Kim and Moon.

Also invited to the dinner are famous cultural figures from both countries, including the North’s Hyon Song Wol, the leader of Kim’s hand-picked Moranbong girl band, and South Korean pop star Cho Yong-pil.

Seoul says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife will cross the border into South Korea to attend a dinner banquet after the Koreas’ summit talks at a border village.

Kim crossed the border into South Korea on Friday morning for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the southern side of Panmunjom. Kim was accompanied by a group of top officials but his wife, Ri Sol Ju, was not present.

Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young-chan says that Ri will cross the border and attend the banquet with Kim, Moon and Moon’s wife Kim Jung-sook later Friday.

Ri is a former singer with the North’s Unhasu Orchestra.

Seoul says the leaders of the two Koreas had “sincere, candid” talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”and other issues during their summit talks.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are holding the Koreas’ third-ever summit talks at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday.

Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters that the two leaders also discussed how to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and improve ties between the rivals.

They are to meet again later Friday.

Yoon says the two Koreas are working on a joint statement to be issued after their one-day meeting.

North Koreans are reacting to news their leader is holding a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in with cautious expressions of support.

Though South Koreans and much of the world were able to watch some of the key summit events live, the only news available from North Korea’s state media well into the afternoon on Friday was a brief dispatch that leader Kim Jong Un had departed the capital to meet Moon inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides their nations.

State television was expected to report on the summit later in the day.

In the meantime, residents of the capital kept their comments short.

Pyongyang resident Jin Kum Il, referring to the ruling party’s daily newspaper, says: “I saw the news today in the Worker’s Daily about our respected supreme leader Kim Jong Un setting off to go to the North-South summit on the south side.”

He adds: “This meeting is coming after more than 10 years and I hope it’s successful.”

Another resident Kim Song Hui is noting Kim has made it clear this year he intends to repair ties with Seoul.

She told an AP Television News crew: “Our respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un already in his New Year’s address this year stressed the importance of improving relations between North and South.”

South Korean conservative activists have set fire to North Korean flags during a rally against the summit talks between the leaders of the two Koreas.

Hundreds of activists gathered near the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to protest the talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

They set on fire two paper North Korean flags with the images of Kim and his late father and grandfather.

They also chanted slogans including “Step down, Moon Jae-in!”

No major violence has been reported.

South Korea says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the country’s transport conditions as poor as he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in discussed Moon’s potential visit to the North.

Moon’ spokesman Yoon Young-chan says Kim’s comments came after Moon expressed a desire to travel across North Korea to visit Mount Paektu that touches the country’s border with China.

According to Yoon, Kim in response said such a trip might be currently uncomfortable for Moon because the country’s transport system was deficient. Yoon says Kim also said North Korean delegates who visited the South during February’s Winter Olympics also came back impressed with South Korea’s bullet train service.

Yoon says Moon in response said North Koreans would also be able to enjoy the South’s high-speed trains if the rivals improve relations and reconnect their rail networks across the border.

North Korean roads are often bumpy and poorly maintained. Kim earlier this month met with China’s ambassador and visited a hospital where Chinese tourists were being treated after a deadly bus crash killed 32 in North Korea.

South Korea says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a reference to North Koreans who escaped from the country while discussing prospects of peace between the rivals in his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young-chan says Kim mentioned the defectors among people who have high expectations for the summit to heal scars and improve relations between the rivals.

Yoon quoted Kim as saying: “We should value this opportunity so that the scars between the South and North could be healed.”

Yoon says Kim added: “The border line isn’t that high; it will eventually be erased if a lot of people pass over it.”

North Korea normally expresses anger toward defectors and often accuses South Korea of abducting or enticing its citizens to defect.

The North in 2016 accused the South of abducting 12 North Korean women who had worked at restaurant in China and demanded them to be sent back to the North. That was months before the North called a senior North Korean diplomat who defected to the South as “human scum.”

Around 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a reference to a South Korean island targeted by a North Korean artillery attack that killed four in 2010.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s senior spokesman said Kim said the residents of Yeonpyeong Island who have been living under the fear of North Korean artillery attacks and also families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War have high hopes for the inter-Korean talks to help heal past scars.

Moon called for more meetings between the leaders and said he wishes to travel in North Korea to visit Mount Paektu near the country’s border with China.

Kim said the trip under current conditions would be uncomfortable, but the North would improve its transportation networks should Moon decided to visit. Kim also said the North Korean delegation during their visit to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February came back impressed by the South’s bullet train services.

Moon in response said the people of both Koreas would be able to enjoy high-speed train services if relations improve and the countries connect their rail networks across borders.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have finished the morning session of their summit at a border truce village.

Television showed bodyguards jogging beside Kim’s black limousine as it rolled back to the northern side of the Panmunjom where Kim and other North Korean officials participating in the summit are expected to have lunch.

The leaders plan to meet again in the afternoon at the southern side of the village for talks Seoul says are aimed at resolving the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has thanked South Korean President Moon Jae-in for greeting him at a “historic place” ahead of their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom.

At the historic moment when the two leaders shook hands across the Military Demarcation line that bisects the rivals, Kim said that his heart “keeps throbbing.”

Moon replied to Kim’s thanks by saying that the North Korean leader made a “very courageous decision” to come to the South.

The high-stakes summit is aimed at resolving the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given his younger sister a place at the negotiating table for the first North-South Korea summit in more than a decade.

Kim Yo Jong has emerged as the most visible member of Kim Jong Un’s regime after her brother – since she became the first member of the ruling North Korean family to travel to the South in early February for the Olympics.

She was in Kim’s delegation as he walked across the line that divides the two Koreas on Friday morning and took a seat beside him as he started his first round of talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The only other North Korean official present was former intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol, the top official in charge of relations with the South.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he’s ready for “heartfelt, sincere and honest” talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on pending issues and that the Koreas must not repeat the past where they were “unable to fulfill our agreements.”

Kim did not make any direct mention of the North Korean nuclear issue in the part of his talks with Moon that were shown on live television.

Kim also joked that he hoped Moon would enjoy North Korea’s famous cold noodles that will be brought to the banquet after the summit, saying it was difficult to bring the noodles from capital Pyongyang. He then turned to his sister sitting to his left and said “maybe I shouldn’t have said (Pyongyang) was far.”

Moon in response there were high expectations surrounding the inter-Korean summit and that they produce an agreement that would please the people of Koreas and also “every peace-loving person in the world.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has signed a guestbook with a message wishing for peace between the Koreas as he arrived for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Kim wrote in the guestbook: “New history starts from now, at the historic starting point of an era of peace.” Kim earlier stepped into the southern side of a border truce village of Panmunjom to become the first North Korean leader to set foot into the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The meeting between Kim and Moon is only the third-ever summit between the rivals who remain technically at war.

Seoul says the meeting will be focused on discussing ways for North Korea’s nuclear disarmament and establishing a permanent peace regime in the Korean Peninsula.

The White House says it is hopeful the summit between the two Korean leaders will achieve progress toward peace.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed over to the southern side of the world’s most heavily armed border Friday morning to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in. They shook hands and inspected an honor guard before later holding a closed-door discussion about Kim’s nuclear weapons.

The White House said in a statement that it is “hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula. … (and) looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for the planned meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made history by crossing over to the southern side of the world’s most heavily armed border to meet rival South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

It’s the first time a member of the Kim dynasty has set foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953 and the latest bid to settle the world’s last Cold War standoff.

The overwhelming focus of the summit, the country’s third-ever, will be on North Korea’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Kim’s news agency said earlier Friday that the leader would “open-heartedly” discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has left Seoul’s presidential palace for a high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that will kick off a new round of nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang.

Moon on Friday briefly stepped out of his black limousine and cheerfully shook hands with hundreds of supporters who waved white South Korean flags and raised banners with messages including “Please Achieve Successful Denuclearization.”

Hundreds of members of the Korean Veterans Association arrived on buses from different parts of the nation hours earlier to send off Moon’s motorcade.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just the third summit between the rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea’s state media reports that leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for the North-South summit meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

A report by the North’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim would “open-heartedly”‘discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula.”

The report called the summit on Friday “historic” and noted that it would be held on the south side of the Demilitarized Zone, a first for Kim.

It also said that after the talks Kim will plant a memorial tree with Moon, make public the results of the talks and attend a dinner hosted by Moon before returning to Pyongyang. </s> SEOUL – South Korean President Moon Jae-in said U.S. President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, a South Korean official said on Monday.

“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. What we need is only peace,” Moon told a meeting of senior secretaries, according to a presidential Blue House official who briefed media.

Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday pledged to end hostilities between the two countries and work towards the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula in the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

READ MORE: Trump could get Nobel Peace Prize nod for progress on North Korea denuclearization

Trump is preparing for his own summit with Kim, which he said would take place in the next three to four weeks.

That upcoming meeting was the main subject of a private walk and chat that Kim and Moon had during their meeting at the border, the official said.

In January, Moon said Trump “deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks. It could be a resulting work of the U.S.-led sanctions and pressure.”

Moon’s Nobel Prize comment came in response to a congratulatory message from Lee Hee-ho, the widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in which she said Moon deserved to win the prize in recognition of his efforts, the Blue House official said.

READ MORE: Kim Jong Un says North Korea will give up nukes if U.S. promises not to attack

Moon responded by saying Trump should get it.

Kim Dae-jung championed the so-called Sunshine policy of engagement with North Korea, and won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize after engineering the first inter-Korean summit with former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

WATCH: U.S. won’t be ‘played’ by North Korea, Trump says



During Monday’s meeting, Moon called for a joint study with the North of economic projects that could be resumed without violating international sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

“The study is to set in motion the programs that are not subject to sanctions, while exploring what the two Koreas could do when the sanctions are lifted in the future,” the official quoted Moon as saying.

READ MORE: Kim Jong Un to close North Korean nuclear test site, unify time zone with South Korea

The Trump administration has led a global effort to impose ever stricter sanctions on North Korea.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Trump would maintain a “pressure campaign” of harsh sanctions on impoverished North Korea until Kim scraps his nuclear weapon program.

Late Saturday, Trump told Moon in a phone call that he was pleased the leaders of the two Koreas reaffirmed the goal of complete denuclearisation during their summit, South Korean officials said on Sunday.

The White House said Trump and Moon had “emphasized that a peaceful and prosperous future for North Korea is contingent upon its complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”

A senior adviser to Moon told Reuters last week that the South Korean government had a “comprehensive roadmap” that it was sharing with the United States ahead of Trump’s meeting with Kim. </s> North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday night headed for the Demilitarized Zone for a historic summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the strip of land that divides their countries, AFP reported.

The meeting on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, only the third of its kind since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, will be the highest-level encounter yet between the two countries, and is intended to pave the way for a much-anticipated encounter between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

In the most detailed direct reference to the process by the North so far, Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said Kim will "open-heartedly discuss... all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula."

Moon greeted Kim at the concrete blocks that mark the border between the two Koreas in the Demilitarized Zone to begin the rare meeting. When Kim stepped over the line he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War ended 65 years ago.

The North's nuclear arsenal will be high on the agenda at the talks.

The White House welcomed the Moon-Kim meeting.

“On the occasion of Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in’s historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we wish the Korean people well. We are hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula. The United States appreciates the close coordination with our ally, the Republic of Korea, and looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for the planned meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks," it said in a statement.

Trump in March unexpectedly agreed to a meeting with Kim, to be held by the end of May. Kim later acknowledged for the first time his country’s contacts with the United States.

U.S. officials recently said North Korea had directly confirmed that Kim was willing to negotiate about potential denuclearization. Last week, Kim himself announced that his country would close its nuclear test site and suspend long-range missile tests.

Last year, Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear test, by far its most powerful to date, and launched missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Those actions sent tensions soaring as Kim and Trump traded personal insults and threats of war.

Moon seized on the South's Winter Olympics as an opportunity to broker dialogue between them, and has said his meeting with Kim will serve to set up the summit between Pyongyang and Washington.

Trump has demanded the North give up its weapons, and Washington is pressing for it to do so in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

Administration officials said this week that Trump will urge North Korea to act quickly to dismantle its nuclear arsenal when he meets Kim and is not willing to grant Pyongyang substantial sanctions relief in return for a freeze of its nuclear and missile tests.

Trump reiterated on Tuesday that he would walk away from the talks with North Korea if they are not fruitful.

"Unlike past administrations, I will leave the table," he said. "But I think we have the chance to do something very special." </s> President Donald Trump said that the details of an anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are still being worked out with a 'time and place to be determined.'

In a message posted to his Twitter feed Friday night, Trump also wrote that if a deal to arrange a summit between the two adversaries can be reached, it would be a positive development for the world.

'The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined,' Trump wrote in the tweet.

On Thursday, the commander-in-chief accepted an invitation to meet face-to-face with the reclusive despot in a dramatic development that caught most policy experts off guard.

South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong first announced the face-to-face and claimed it was due to take place by May.

Chung says he relayed Kim's commitment to denuclearization.

'Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible,' the South Korean official said.

'President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization,' Chung said.

However, a statement from the White House did not confirm the two-month timeframe and said the place and time of the meeting was still being worked out.

Governments around the world welcomed the announcement, with praise coming from the UK, Russia and Australia.

'President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement a half hour after South Korea's announcement.

'We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.'

Chung, who made the announcement on behalf of South Korea, led the delegation visiting North Korea earlier this week. The invitation to meet Trump was made to him directly by Kim.

The foreign official said that Kim understands and accepts the fact that joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises will continue and that he also made promises to halt nuclear and ballistic tests until the meeting with Trump takes place.

The planned meeting drew immediate praise from other nations.

A spokesperson for the British government said, 'The UK welcomes the South Korean announcement that Kim Jong Un has made a renewed commitment to denuclearise and will refrain from further nuclear missile tests while dialogue continues.

'We welcome the announcement of direct talks with President Trump by May and (South Korean) President Moon Jae-in in April.

'We have always been clear that we want Kim Jong Un to change path and put the welfare of his people ahead of the illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons.

'We will continue to work closely with the US, South Korea and the international community to ensure that pressure on North Korea continues and sanctions are strictly enforced until Kim Jong Un matches his words with concrete actions. We will continue to monitor developments closely.'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also welcomed the news, saying that Russia considers the move 'a step in the right direction.'

He went on to express hope that an agreement would be implemented because it is 'necessary for normalizing the situation around the Korean peninsula.'

Australia's former prime minister expressed surprise at how 'surprisingly good' Trump has been at foreign policy compared to his predecessors.

Bruce Klingner, former head of the CIA division for the Koreas, warned Trump to beware of Kim's siren song.

'Washington has fretted that Seoul's acquiescence to North Korea's Olympic charm offensive conveyed legitimacy to the regime and risked undermining international resolve to maintain pressure. The U.S. counseled its ally to exercise caution and move forward cautiously and only after lengthy preparations,' said Klingner, a research fellow now at the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation.

'The Trump administration should take its own advice before it is seduced by the same sirens' song,' he said in a statement. </s> WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump may meet with South Korea's president before his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to seek a denuclearization deal, a White House official said on Wednesday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is due to meet with Kim on Friday, and Trump has said he could have talks with the North Korean leader in late May or June.

White House national security adviser John Bolton spoke with his South Korean counterpart, Chung Eui-yong, on Wednesday and they discussed "looking into a meeting between the two presidents that would take place before the United States-North Korea summit," the official said.

The United States is pressing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and says it will keep up a policy of "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang through sanctions to achieve that goal.

Moon said last week that North Korea had expressed a commitment to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, and Pyongyang said on Saturday it would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media lauded on Wednesday the summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump as a resounding success, highlighting concessions by the U.S. president and the prospect of a new era of peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.

According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Trump expressed his intention to halt U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, offer security guarantees to the North and lift sanctions against it as relations improve.

The U.S. president had said in a news conference on Tuesday he would like to lift sanctions against North Korea but it would not happen immediately.

Kim and Trump invited each other to their respective countries and both leaders "gladly accepted", KCNA reported.

The summit, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, was in stark contrast to a flurry of North Korean nuclear and missile tests and angry exchanges of insults between Trump and Kim last year that fueled worries about war.

"Kim Jong Un and Trump had the shared recognition to the effect that it is important to abide by the principle of step-by-step and simultaneous action in achieving peace, stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," KCNA said.

Trump confirmed the United States will not hold war games with South Korea while North Korea negotiates in good faith on denuclearization.

"We're not going to be doing the war games as long as we're negotiating in good faith," Trump told Fox News Channel in an interview in Singapore after the summit.

"So that's good for a number of reasons, in addition to which we save a tremendous amount of money," Trump said. "You know, those things, they cost. I hate to appear a businessman, but I kept saying, what's it costing?"

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump's cost reasoning for halting the exercises was "ridiculous".

"It's not a burden onto the American taxpayer to have a forward deployed force in South Korea," Graham told CNN. "It brings stability. It's a warning to China that you can't just take over the whole region. So I reject that analysis that it costs too much, but I do accept the proposition, let's stand down (on military exercises) and see if we can find a better way here."

There was some confusion over precisely what military cooperation with South Korea Trump had promised to halt.

The U.S.-South Korean exercise calendar hits a high point every year with the Foal Eagle and Max Thunder drills, which both wrapped up last month. Another major drill is due in August.

The United States maintains around 28,500 soldiers in South Korea, which remains in a technical state of war with the North after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

Trump's announcement was a surprise even to President Moon Jae-in's government in Seoul, which worked in recent months to help bring about the Trump-Kim summit.

Asked about Trump's comments regarding the halting of drills, South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters there was a need to seek measures that would help improve engagement with North Korea but it was also necessary to confirm exactly what Trump had meant.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be chairing a national security meeting early on Thursday to discuss the outcome of Tuesday's summit.

Trump's administration had previously ruled out any concessions or lifting of sanctions without North Korea's commitment to complete, verifiable and irreversible steps to scrap a nuclear arsenal that is advanced enough to threaten the United States.

Critics in the United States said Trump had given away too much at a meeting that gave Kim international standing. The North Korean leader had been isolated, his country accused by rights groups of widespread human rights abuses and under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"For North Korea, they got exactly what they wanted," said Moon Seong-mook, a former South Korean military official and current head of the Unification Strategy Center in Seoul. "They had a summit as a nuclear state with Kim on equal turf with Trump, got the United States to halt joint military exercises with South Korea. It's a win for Kim Jong Un."

Officials from South Korea and Japan were expected to discuss the issue when U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Seoul later on Wednesday. He is scheduled to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in early on Thursday and then hold a trilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

Japan's Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera said that, while North Korea had pledged denuclearization, no concrete steps had been taken and Japan would not let down its guard.

"We see U.S. South Korean joint exercises and the U.S. military presence in South Korea as vital to security in East Asia," Onodera told reporters. "It is up to the U.S. and South Korea to decide about their joint exercises. We have no intention of changing our joint drills with the U.S."

Japan, along with China, is expected to bear much of the initial costs of North Korea's denuclearization but would only start shouldering costs after the International Atomic Energy Agency restarts inspections, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

The Singapore summit did not get top billing in the main state news outlets in China, North Korea's main ally.

The ruling Communist Party's main newspaper, the People's Daily, reported the news in a brief page 3 article about the Chinese Foreign Ministry's reaction to the talks.

The English-language China Daily said in an editorial that, while it remained to be seen if the talks would be a defining moment in history, the fact that the talks went smoothly was a positive result.

"While no one should expect the summit to have ironed out all the differences and erased the deep-seated mistrust between the two long-time foes, it has ignited hopes that they will be finally able to put an end to their hostility and that the long-standing peninsula issues can finally be resolved. These hopes should not be extinguished," it said. </s> – North Korea has confirmed directly to the Trump administration that it is willing to negotiate with the United States over potential denuclearization, administration officials said Sunday.

The confirmation offers the administration greater assurances that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is committed to a potential meeting with President Donald Trump by the end of next month.

“The U.S. has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” an administration official said.

South Korean emissaries, in a visit to the White House last month, had presented Kim’s invitation to meet with Trump, who quickly agreed.

But Pyongyang has been silent publicly since then about a summit, even as Kim visited Beijing earlier this month in his first visit outside North Korea since assuming control of the country after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in 2011. the Wall Street Journal was the first to report that the North has confirmed the offer to the United States.

Trump said last month that he was willing to have the historic meeting with Kim and instructed his aides to arrange it before the end of May. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to make a two-day visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s resort near Palm Beach, Florida, to coordinate strategy between the allies. South Korean President Moon Jae-in plans to meet with Kim at the end of April in the Demilitarized Zone between the North and South.

White House officials have not said where the Trump-Kim summit will be held. The agenda of the meeting is not yet known, and North Korea has not been clear about what steps it is willing to take to move toward denuclearization. During previous negotiations under different U.S. administrations, the North has agreed to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions, only to violate the agreement by testing more weapons.
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.