North Korea says Trump's invitation to meet in DMZ 'interesting'
Trump issued the gesture, first over Twitter, just hours before he departed for Seoul.
"I just thought of it this morning," Trump said on Saturday in Osaka, where he was attending the G20 summit. "I just put out a feeler, because I don't know where he is right now he may not be in North Korea. If Chairman Kim would want to meet, I'll be at the border. We seem to get along very well."
North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui dubbed the invitation a "very interesting suggestion," but said he was awaiting a more formal proposal, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
If the meeting happened, it would likely only be for two minutes, as that was all the time available, Trump said. That would be long enough for a photo, but not for substantive talks.
Trump joked that Kim must follow him on Twitter, as the reaction was very quick.
Trump is heading to South Korea on Saturday for meetings with President Moon Jae-in, after both finish attending the G20 summit in Japan. There has been speculation he would visit the DMZ.
Trump has twice met Kim, first in Singapore and later in Hanoi.
The second summit failed, raising concerns negotiations between the sides over North Korea's nuclear weapons and sanctions on the isolated regime had stalled and that tensions could again escalate.
"After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!" Trump said on Twitter, in issuing the invitation.
Speaking to reporters, Trump went on a riff about the border zone and his own fascination with border walls, as he continues to seek to expand the fencing on the US frontier with Mexico.
"By the way, when you talk about a wall, when you talk about a border, that's what they call a border. Nobody goes through that border. Just about nobody. That's called a real border. We are going there, we are going to look at it," Trump said.
Trump often insists that he is in no rush on North Korea's denuclearization, saying that sanctions remain in place on Pyongyang and that there is no nuclear testing or new major missiles being fired.
Experts have questioned repeatedly whether North Korea would ever agree to fully give up its nuclear weapons, which it views as vital for the regime's survival.
The Hanoi summit largely broke down over what measures North Korea would be willing to take to scale back aspects of its programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
While North Korea has in recent months upped its provocative language against the US, there have also been signs of thaws, with Trump and Kim exchanging letters.
Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said this week the US was ready for talks.
While North Korea is often vague, it is generally understood that it would be willing to give up its nuclear weapons only if the US agreed to denuclearize the entire Korean Peninsula, losing any ability to strike Pyongyang.
Trump hailed Moon in a press release ahead of the visit, saying the South Korean leader has been "indispensable" in helping with the North Korea talks.
The US has never been more "loyal" to South Korea than now, the White House said.
