Trump invites North's Kim to meet in demilitarized zone

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet at the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, between the Koreas.

Trump is in Japan for the G20 summit and will depart later Saturday for Seoul to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon)," Trump tweeted. "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(?)!"

The DMZ is 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) deep and surrounded by barbed wire, guards and landmines, spanning the width of the peninsula as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Earlier this month, Trump said he received a "very warm" and "beautiful" letter from the North Korean leader and voiced optimism that "something will happen" regarding the stalled talks, which have been at an impasse since the last round of negotiations collapsed in February.

At the time, he said a potential third summit with Kim could happen.

On Sunday, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim received a letter from his U.S. counterpart, noting that Kim "said with satisfaction that the letter is of excellent content”.

North Korea has been insisting on immediate relief from biting international sanctions before it takes any additional steps towards nuclear disarmament -- a demand that has been balked at by Washington.

Following the February breakdown, Pyongyang carried out a launch of short-range ballistic missiles in May that rattled close U.S. allies Japan and South Korea.