President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for an expected summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of the North, according to the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. "

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted.

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders' bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

"It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too," said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump's choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

"And if I can't do it, it'll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It's certainly something that I hope I can do for the world," he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies' side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he's being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year's full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

"I don't think he's ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We're not going to be played, OK. We're going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle."

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was "serious" about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: "I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed."

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.</s>WASHINGTON (CBS News) — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas. Mr. Trump also said in a tweet Saturday morning that “things are going very well” as he prepares for an expected summit with the North’s Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to “a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the North, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed “the ironclad U.S. commitment” to defend its ally “using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. ”

Mr. Trump tweeted Saturday that he had “a long and very good talk” with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about “the ongoing negotiations” for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

“Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set,” Mr. Trump tweeted.

Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for the upcoming summit between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong Un, two administration sources told CBS News’ Major Garrett. Mr. Trump told reporters Friday that the location had been narrowed down to two spots.

“I will be meeting with Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks, we look forward to that,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Trump declined to say whether he has met with Kim directly. But he did say they have a “good working relationship.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year’s end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit. Now he faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders’ bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility. Mr. Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

“It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too,” said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump’s choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Mr. Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

“And if I can’t do it, it’ll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It’s certainly something that I hope I can do for the world,” he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies’ side, has shifted to Mr. Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he’s being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year’s full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

“I don’t think he’s ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re not going to be played, OK. We’re going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle.”

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was “serious” about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign. But Pompeo — who traveled to the Middle East on Saturday — added a word of caution: “I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed.”

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is “optimistic right now that there’s opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950” and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Baku. 23 November. REPORT.AZ/ A U.S. Apache helicopter crashed in central South Korea on Monday, killing its pilot and another crew member, police and military officials said.

The attack helicopter went down in the county of Wonju in Gangwon province, Report informs referring to Reuters, the officials said.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea in joint defense with the South's forces against North Korea. The two Koreas are in a technical state of war under a truce after their 1950-53 Korean War.

On Monday, South Korea's military conducted artillery live-fire drills on islands near a disputed maritime border with North Korea, ignoring Pyongyang's threat to fire back if any of the shells landed in its waters.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said “things are going very well” as he prepares for an expected summit with the North’s Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to “a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the North, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed “the ironclad U.S. commitment” to defend its ally “using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities.”

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had “a long and very good talk” with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about “the ongoing negotiations” for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year’s end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he’s looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it “should be quite something.”

“Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set,” Trump tweeted. A statement from the White House describing the call between Trump and Moon also referred to the North’s future being contingent upon “complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders’ bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.”It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too,” said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump’s choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

“And if I can’t do it, it’ll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It’s certainly something that I hope I can do for the world,” he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies’ side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he’s being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year’s full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

“I don’t think he’s ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re not going to be played, OK. We’re going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle.”New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was “serious” about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: “I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed.”

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is “optimistic right now that there’s opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950” and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas. Mr. Trump also said in a tweet Saturday morning that “things are going very well” as he prepares for an expected summit with the North’s Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to “a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the North, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed “the ironclad U.S. commitment” to defend its ally “using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. “

Mr. Trump tweeted Saturday that he had “a long and very good talk” with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about “the ongoing negotiations” for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

“Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set,” Mr. Trump tweeted.

Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for the upcoming summit between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong Un, two administration sources told CBS News’ Major Garrett. Mr. Trump told reporters Friday that the location had been narrowed down to two spots.

“I will be meeting with Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks, we look forward to that,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Trump declined to say whether he has met with Kim directly. But he did say they have a “good working relationship.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year’s end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit. Now he faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders’ bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility. Mr. Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

“It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too,” said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump’s choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Mr. Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

“And if I can’t do it, it’ll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It’s certainly something that I hope I can do for the world,” he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies’ side, has shifted to Mr. Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he’s being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year’s full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

“I don’t think he’s ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re not going to be played, OK. We’re going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle.”

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was “serious” about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign. But Pompeo — who traveled to the Middle East on Saturday — added a word of caution: “I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed.”

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is “optimistic right now that there’s opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950” and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.</s>President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for an expected summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of the North, according to the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. "

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted.

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders' bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

"It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too," said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump's choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

"And if I can't do it, it'll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It's certainly something that I hope I can do for the world," he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies' side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he's being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year's full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

"I don't think he's ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We're not going to be played, OK. We're going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle."

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was "serious" about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: "I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed."

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.</s>President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for an expected summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of the North, according to the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. "

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted.

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders' bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

"It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too," said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump's choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

"And if I can't do it, it'll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It's certainly something that I hope I can do for the world," he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies' side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he's being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year's full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

"I don't think he's ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We're not going to be played, OK. We're going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle."

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was "serious" about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: "I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed."

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.</s>WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for a summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Dana White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend South Korea "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities."

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Today, South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said Kim plans to shut down the country's nuclear test site in May and reveal the process to experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea. He said Kim made the comments during his summit with Moon on Friday.

According to Yoon, Kim also said Trump will learn he's "not a person" to fire missiles toward the United States.

Yoon said North Korea also plans to readjust its current time zone to match the South's. The North in 2015 created its own "Pyongyang Time" by setting the clock 30 minutes behind the South.

"If we maintain frequent meetings and build trust with the United States and receive promises for an end to the war and a nonaggression treaty, then why would [we] need to live in difficulty by keeping our nuclear weapons?" Yoon quoted Kim as saying.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950-53, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to his meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted. A statement from the White House describing the call between Trump and Moon also referred to the North's future being contingent upon "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats.

The Korean War fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended in 1953 with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.

China, Japan and Russia -- North Korea's neighbors -- while offering praise for the summit meeting with South Korea that riveted the world last week, appeared to acknowledge one thing: Now comes the hard part.

In the accord struck Friday, the two sides confirmed a "common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," a commitment North Korea has made before but then flouted by conducting six nuclear tests. The two Korean leaders also pledged to work toward a peace treaty.

The North's neighbors all have stakes in holding Pyongyang to any commitment that may come out of future talks.

China, which has been enforcing U.N. economic sanctions against its longtime but wayward ally North Korea, welcomed the agreement and urged the two Koreas and other countries to maintain the momentum for dialogue and work together to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Abe described the commitment as a "positive move toward the comprehensive settlement of various issues surrounding North Korea."

In Russia, the Kremlin hailed the agreement as "very positive." Dmitri Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said the Russian president "has stressed many times that sustainable conflict resolution on the Korean Peninsula can only be based on direct dialogue of both sides."

But Iran warned the leaders of North and South Korea to keep Trump out of their reconciliation efforts.

"The American government has shown with the Iran nuclear deal that it does not hold to international agreements and is therefore not trustworthy," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said in Tehran.

Trump has complained bitterly about the 2015 deal, which aims to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. He has threatened to effectively withdraw from it next month unless its "flaws" are reworked.

North Korea's main newspaper devoted four of its six pages Saturday to the previous day's summit between Kim and Moon. It brightened its usually drab pages with 62 color photographs from the historic event.

It even printed the leaders' joint declaration professing a goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

But, like other state-run North Korean media, the newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, gave no hint to its readers whether Kim would genuinely consider giving up his nuclear weapons, or what he might demand in return.

Rather, it focused on Kim's new diplomatic turn. "With his boundlessly noble love for the nation and with his sophisticated political skills, he has laid the groundwork for a turning point in North-South Korean relations," the propaganda-filled Rodong said.

However positive the goals described in the three-page agreement, the critical question remained: Does Kim intend to bargain away his nuclear weapons, or are his diplomatic overtures aimed only at softening his image and easing sanctions against his impoverished country?

The accord set no timetable for denuclearization but said the two sides planned to achieve a permanent peace within the year. Talks to formally end the Korean War would require negotiations involving the main combatants: North and South Korea, China and the United States.

The North Korean media listed denuclearization as the last of three major agenda items from the summit meeting at the border village of Panmunjom -- unlike the South Korean government, which cited it first. The North's coverage described extensively how Kim was spearheading efforts to open "an era of national reconciliation and solidarity, and peace and prosperity" on the divided peninsula.

Still, its coverage of the summit meeting reconfirmed North Korea's dramatic shift from raising tensions through weapons tests to creating a reconciliatory mood through high-profile meetings that would have been unthinkable just several months ago.

Skeptics say Kim's goal remains to be accepted as a nuclear power. He is merely trying to improve ties with South Korea to steer it further from the United States and to escape sanctions that are increasingly hurting the North's economy, they say.

But if Kim intends to win diplomatic recognition, a peace treaty and economic aid from Washington and its allies, as South Korean officials hope he does, trading away his nuclear arsenal is his only bargaining chip. He cannot reveal his hand too soon, they say.

South Korean officials say they have heard directly from Kim a willingness to denuclearize.

In Japan, there was caution about the lack of specifics in the accord. The document fell far short of the Trump administration's demands for the dismantlement of the North's arsenal and of the need for inspections to verify that the weapons no longer exist, officials and commentators said.

The Japanese foreign minister, Taro Kono, called for North Korea to take "concrete actions for the dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete and irreversible manner."

Abe, who has strained relations with South Korea, implied that the new accord may not be too different from a similar commitment in 2007 between a previous South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, and Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korean leader. That accord fell apart soon after it was signed.

"We would like to think about how we respond to the current statement, analyzing and comparing it with the past statement," Abe said.

Of all the North's neighbors, Japan is perhaps the most uneasy about the process that began at the inter-Korean summit meeting. It fears Washington will agree to trade away the North's long-range intercontinental missiles that can hit the United States, but allow Pyongyang to keep its medium-range missiles, leaving Japan vulnerable.

Abe went out of his way to remind reporters that he had spent 11 hours with Trump this month, insisting that his proximity to the American president meant he had not been left out of the negotiations over North Korea.

In China, the state-run news media stressed the need for the United States to quickly enter the picture and seal the deal.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Pennington and staff members of The Associated Press; by Choe Sang-hun and Jane Perlez of The New York Times; and by Gretel Johnston of Deutsche Presse-Agentur.</s>WASHINGTON (XINHUA) - US Secretary of Defence James Mattis reaffirmed on Saturday (April 28) the commitment to defend South Korea, voicing support to diplomatic solution to the Korean Peninsula issue.

Mr Mattis reiterated "the ironclad US commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of US capabilities" in phone discussion with his South Korean counterpart Song Young Moo on the results of last Friday's inter-Korea summit, Pentagon chief spokesman Dana White said a statement.

The two defence chiefs also expressed commitment to a diplomatic resolution that achieves "complete, verifiable, and irreversible" denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, as reflected in multiple UN Security Council's resolutions, the statement said.

In his conversation with Mr Mattis, Mr Song reviewed the Panmunjom Declaration and the efforts to improve inter-Korea relations while achieving denuclearisation.

The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, signed last Friday by South Korean President Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pledged joint efforts for national reconciliation, denuclearisation and lasting peace.

Last Friday, Mr Mattis said the United States will discuss with its allies and North Korea the need for US troops to stay stationed on the peninsula.

The United States "will build, through confidence-building measures, a degree of trust if it's going to go forward". he added, referring to the dialogue with North Korea on denuclearising the peninsula.

The US troops have stayed in South Korea ever since the signing of the Korean War armistice treaty in 1953. Bilateral relations are often strained over issues such as defence burden sharing, the US army's harassment of South Korean civilians and Seoul's initiative to take back the war-time command control from Washington, among others.</s>South Koreans Cautiously Optimistic About New Promise Of Peace With North Korea

North and South Korea committed to a "nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," but details were sparse.
United States Defense Secretary James Mattis and South Korea Defense Minister Song Young-moo say they are committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, according to a Pentagon spokesperson. Mattis repeats the United States' "ironclad" commitment to defend its ally South Korea "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities."