President Donald Trump announced Friday afternoon that the on-again-off-again summit between the United States and North Korea is back on for June 12 in Singapore.
The surprise announcement came after an hour-long meeting with top North Korean official, Kim Yong Chol, who arrived in the United States Thursday with a letter in hand from Kim Jong Un.
The Associated Press reported:
“Now we’re going to deal,” Trump told reporters moments after the meeting ended. He also said it was likely that more than one meeting would be necessary. He concluded, “I think you’re going to have a very positive result in the end. We will see what we will see.”
Trump told reporters he hadn’t read the letter yet and added with a smile, “I may be in for a big surprise, folks.”
Although President Trump sent a letter calling off the talks last Thursday, he kept the option to go ahead with the Singapore talks on the table.
“We can be successful in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, that would be a great thing for North Korea, it would be a great thing for South Korea, it would be great for Japan, it would be great for the world, it would be great for the United States, it would be great for China. A lot of people are working on it. It’s moving along very nicely,” Trump said at the time.
Shortly after news of President Trump’s decision to cancel the talks made its way to the Hermit Kingdom, North Korean state media reported on Kim’s “fixed will” that a summit with Trump should go ahead.
