South Korea: Summit With U.S. Likely Next Month

The U.S. and South Korea are likely to hold a summit next month ahead of a separate proposed summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that could come as early as next month.

That is according to remarks from an unnamed South Korean presidential official quoted by Reuters.

An inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's Kim will be the third such meeting since the end of the Korea War in 1953. Two previous summits, in 2000 and again in 2007 were undertaken with high hopes of progress toward a lasting peace.

Meanwhile, President Trump, who has in the past referred to Kim derisively as "Little Rocket Man" and promised to respond to North Korean provocations with "fire and fury," is sounding a more conciliatory tone ahead of the proposed summit.

Speaking of the summit, Trump said Tuesday, "We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible. We think that's a great thing for the world."

"Kim Jong Un, he really has been very open and I think very honorable from everything we're seeing," Trump said alongside visiting French President Emmanuel Macron.

However, as The Associated Press notes, "Trump cautioned that North Korea had not followed through on previous promises, but credited tough steps from his administration - including sanctions and organizing pressure from international allies - for having forced Pyongyang to hold talks. And he again suggested that he would 'leave the table' if the negotiations were not productive or if North Korea was not operating in good faith."

"We'll see where that all goes," the president said. "Maybe it will be wonderful or maybe it won't."

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