The 2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit was a one-day summit held at the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un, U.S. president Donald Trump, and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, following the 2019 G20 Osaka summit. Trump briefly stepped over the border at 3:45 PM (GMT+9) on June 30, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot on North Korean soil. It was also the second time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory, following the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. Senior White House advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner (Trump's daughter and son-in-law) also attended the summit, with Ivanka Trump and U.S. envoy to South Korea Harry B. Harris Jr. holding a meeting with Kim later broadcast on North Korean television.
Background
A number of other sitting U.S. presidents had previously traveled to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and seen North Korea through binoculars, but none had previously met the leaders of North Korea or actually traveled within North Korean territory.Kevin Liptak, Trump takes 20 steps into North Korea, making history as first sitting US leader to enter hermit nation , CNN (June 30, 2019).
Trump and Kim held talks on February 27 and 28, 2019, in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, regarding the nuclear issue. At Hanoi, North Korea sought the removal of all significant economic sanctions; in return, it proposed partially reducing its capacity to construct new nuclear weapons, while retaining its existing nuclear arsenal. Trump, meanwhile, offered economic aid to North Korea in exchange for denuclearization.Simon Denyer, North Korea's Kim receives 'excellent letter' from Trump, state media says , The Washington Post (June 22, 2019). The two countries did not come to agreement, and talks eventually collapsed. In the aftermath of Hanoi, North Korean state media "angrily denounced the U.S. position" but "refrained from criticizing Trump directly and even referred to the positive relationship between the two leaders, a sentiment consistently echoed by Trump himself."
On June 12, 2019, Trump told reporters that he received a "beautiful letter" from Kim that was "very personal, very warm, very nice," praised Kim's leadership, and said that the letter was a sign that talks would resume. Kim received a reply from Trump on June 23, 2019, which Kim praised as "excellent"; North Korean state media stated that "Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content."
Announcement
On June 24, 2019, the Blue House confirmed that Trump would be making a visit to South Korea on June 30 and that the White House was trying to schedule a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone. On the morning of June 29, at the G20 summit, Trump tweeted, "If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!"Kevin Liptak & Allie Malloy, Trump tweets Kim Jong Un an invitation to 'shake his hand' at DMZ , CNN (June 29, 2019). Five hours later, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho asked the U.S. to issue a formal notice. On the evening of the same day, Ri Yong-ho met with Stephen Biegun, the U.S. State Department's Special Representative for North Korea, at Panmunjom, in preparation for the summit. During the South Korea–U.S. Summit, South Korean president Moon Jae-in announced that Trump would be meeting Kim during his visit at the DMZ. Moon predicted that a handshake between Trump and Kim at the DMZ would be a "milestone" for denuclearization efforts on the peninsula.
Although the meeting was billed as a spontaneous or impromptu meeting, Kim and Trump had exchanged letters earlier in the month.Chas Danner, Everything We Know About Trump's DMZ Meeting With Kim Jong-un , New York (June 30, 2019). Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University "said it was inconceivable that the leaders of two powerful nations had arranged a meeting at such short notice. He described it as a 'show' designed to send a political message without raising expectations about actual progress."Seung Min Kim & Simon Denyer, Trump becomes first sitting president to set foot into North Korea , The Washington Post (June 30, 2019).
According to the book of John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser at that time, Trump didn't want Moon to join him during his third meeting with Kim in the DMZ.
Summit
Following the conclusions of the 2019 G20 Osaka summit in Japan, on June 30, 2019, Trump and South Korean president Moon Jae-in visited the DMZ before the meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim invited Trump to cross the border line, and Trump briefly crossed in North Korea before crossing back into South Korea together with Kim. Trump thus became the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea. Before crossing into North Korea, Kim told Trump in Korean, "it's good to see you again" and "I never expected to meet you at this place", and shook hands with Trump. Trump said it was "my honor" to enter North Korea. During their meeting, Trump also invited Kim to the White House, although later acknowledged that this would probably not occur in the near term. Trump said of Kim: "A lot of really great things are happening, tremendous things. We met and we liked each other from Day One, and that was very important." Moon later joined Trump and Kim, and the three spoke for a brief momentUS-North Korea: Trump and Kim agree to restart talks in historic meeting , BBC News (June 30, 2019). before Kim and Trump held a 53-minute-long private meeting inside the Freedom House.
Trump's top advisor Ivanka Trump, senior advisor Jared Kushner, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, and United States ambassador to South Korea Harry B. Harris, Jr., accompanied Trump to the DMZ.Trump's DMZ Summit - full recording by DPRK Trump's DMZ Summit Shows How Little Kim Has Conceded on Nukes , DMZ Summit - full recording by DPRK, June 30, 2019Margaret Talev & Jon Herskovitz, Trump's DMZ Summit Shows How Little Kim Has Conceded on Nukes , Bloomberg News, June 30, 2019 Ivanka Trump joined the president in his meeting with Kim. Moon did not attend; the North Korean Foreign Ministry had announced a week before that he was not welcome, telling South Korean authorities to "mind their own business at home".
In remarks after the meeting, Kim said, "By meeting here, which is a symbol of division, the symbol of a hostile past...we are presenting to the world that we have a new present, and this is announcing to the world that we will have positive meetings going forward."Kim Jong-un and Trump hold historic summit at DMZ and agree to resume working-level talks , Arirang News (June 30, 2019).ARIRANG NEWS- 30 June 2019:FULL COVERAGE: Moon, Kim, Trump Hold Historic Three-way Talks On South Korean Soil | ARIRANG NEWS Al Jazeera English NEWS- 30 June 2019:Trump confirms he will meet Kim at DMZ | Al Jazeera English NEWS
Aftermath
Following the nuclear summit, both sides had announced the resumption of "working-level" nuclear talks.Leo Byrne, Working level talks with North Korea to resume in mid July: Pompeo , NKNews (June 30, 2019). U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that Trump administration negotiators would meet North Korean counterparts to resume denuclearization talks in mid-July. U.S. special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Biegun, would lead the U.S. negotiators; the North Korean lead negotiator has not been appointed, although senior diplomat Choe Son-hui was viewed as a likely choice.
David E. Sanger and Michael Crowley, in an analysis for The New York Times, wrote that in the lead-up to the meeting, Trump administration officials had been internally considering the prospect that a new round of U.S.–North Korea negotiations could lead to the U.S. accepting "a nuclear freeze, one that essentially enshrines the status quo, and tacitly accepts the North as a nuclear power," rather than complete denuclearization.In New Talks, U.S. May Settle for a Nuclear Freeze by North Korea , The New York Times (June 30, 2019). Under this possible outcome, North Korea would halt the growth of its nuclear arsenal, but would not dismantle any of the estimated 20–60 existing nuclear weapons already in its stockpile, and would not curb its ballistic missile capabilities. Biegun said that commentary about possible outcomes was speculative and said he was "not preparing any new proposal currently".
Reactions South Korea The meeting was "broadly welcomed in South Korean political circles," including from the ruling Democratic Party (whose chairman called it "another milestone toward peace on the Korean Peninsula") and the conservative Liberty Korea Party, the main opposition party. The chairman of Liberty Korea Party announced that "it is a good sign for breaking the deadlock in the nuclear talks."South Korean party leaders praise Trump-Kim meeting , Yonhap (July 1, 2019). Myong-hyun Go, Research Fellow of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies which is one of the top 5 think tanks for foreign policy and defense area in South Korea, analyzed DMZ summit as a positive direction. Go emphasized the crucial role of South Korea, President Moon between Trump and Kim as a negotiator. Go also said a small deal between the United States and the DPRK, similar to the Iran nuclear deal, might be feasible if Trump concluded that it was more realistic than a big deal.http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=240234 Analysis on post-DMZ nuclear talks However, Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University stated that both Kim and Trump "needed something that is strong on optics but weak on substance" and that the DMZ meeting was intended to convey a political message without raising expectations about progress toward an actual agreement on the North Korean nuclear issue.
North Korea
North Korean state media praised Trump's visit as "historic"Dagyum Ji, North Korean media hails "historic" Kim-Trump meeting at Panmunjom , NKNews (July 1, 2019). and "an amazing event", and extensively covered the event for KCNA, the state TV network,Trump in North Korea: KCNA hails 'amazing' visit , BBC News (July 1, 2019). and Rodong Sinmun, a state newspaper.Peter Weber, North Korea is fawning over the 'amazing' Trump-Kim DMZ meeting. U.S. media is treating it like reality TV. , The Week (July 1, 2019). Kim was quoted in the Rodong Sinmun as saying that "a dramatic meeting like today could take place in one day due to positive friendly relationship with President Trump." Anna Fifield of The Washington Post and Nic Robertson of CNN described the meeting as an important propaganda victory for Kim.Nic Robertson, Trump may meet Kim at the DMZ, but what's the point other than a photo op? , CNN (June 29, 2019). However, Foreign Ministry adviser of North Korea Kim Kye-gwan announced that meeting with Trump only served U.S. Interests and pride of U.S. president. DPRK would be interested in another summit with Trump only if U.S. offers mutually acceptable terms between two countries to salvage nuclear diplomacy.
United States During a news conference with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, Trump falsely claimed that "President Obama wanted to meet and Chairman Kim would not meet him. The Obama administration was begging for a meeting." Former Trump administration deputy national security advisor K.T. McFarland compared the Trump–Kim DMZ meeting to the Nixon–Mao meeting in 1972, dismissed critics of the meeting, and said "If Kim doesn't deliver on this, I think he may have potential problems within his own leadership cadre."