Kim Jong-un and Trump hold historic summit at DMZ and agree to resume working-level talks

2019-06-30 42

There were several historical firsts at today's meeting at the DMZ.
For the first time ever, a U.S. President stepped into North Korea, and the leaders of the two sides held a summit at the DMZ, not to mention the leaders of the two Koreas also meeting all together with the leader of the U.S.
Our Lee Ji-won has more.
In a ripple effect started by U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet, the historic and impromptu meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump took place at the truce village of Panmunjeom on Sunday.

After touring the Demilitarized Zone with President Moon Jae-in, President Trump walked to the military demarcation line that divides the two Koreas. There, just like during the 1st inter-Korean summit in April 2018,... Kim Jong-un greeted Trump at the border, saying how he never expected to see President Trump there.
Kim then took Trump to the Northern side, making him the first U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil.
It's also the first time in 66 years, since the armistice agreement,... that North Korea and U.S. have met at the border village.

After a brief photo shoot, the two crossed over to the South Korean side, exchanging brief comments on the surprise meeting.

(Korean)
"In crossing the border, I think President Trump showed extraordinary determination to move beyond the troubled past and into a better future."

(English)
"I just want to say this is my honor I didn't really expect it. We were in Japan for the G20. We came over and said I’m over here, I want to meet Chairman Kim. And we got to meet and stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made."

President Trump also said they liked each other from day one, and that he would invite Kim to the White House right now.

The two leaders were then joined by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and this marked another historic moment,... as the leaders of the two Koreas and the leader of the U.S. finally all met together.
Though the details could not be heard, the leaders got to enjoy about 4 minutes of three-way talks, standing at the symbolic place of peace.

The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. then moved to the Freedom House on the South Korean side to hold their de facto third bilateral meeting, which lasted for 53 minutes.

(Korean)
"Some people think this meeting was arranged before through letters, but I only knew yesterday morning that President Trump would be here. And I want to meet again, and I believe that by meeting here, which is a symbol of division, the symbol of a hostile past, I believe that by two countries that have a hostile past meeting here, I think we are showcasing to the world that we have a new present, and this is showcasing to the world that we will have positive meetings going forward."

At a quick briefing after the meeting, President Trump said both sides agreed to resume working-level talks soon.

(English)
"So we have agreed to have teams set up, we'r