American news outlets suggest Trump's offer to meet Kim Jong-un at DMZ was planned in advance
  • 5 years ago
All eyes are on the possible meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. on Sunday..., after President Trump said that he wants to meet Chairman Kim Jong-un at the DMZ.
Although Trump told reporters that the offer was spontaneous, American news outlets are suggesting that it was planned in advance.
Our Ko Roon-hee reports.
When asked about his offer to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border on Saturday, President Trump said QUOTE "I just thought of it this morning."

However, according to American political newspaper The Hill, it seems like the suggestion was planned from at least a week ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Hill on Monday, Trump said the DMZ would be one of the places he will be visiting.
And when asked if he would meet the North Korean leader if Kim offered to do so, Trump said he might.
The news outlet reported that it postponed publishing the news because of the request from the White House... which mentioned security issues in publicizing the plan in advance.

Although The Hill's question included the presumption of Kim Jong-un offering to meet Trump at the DMZ... this signals that the U.S. President has been picturing the surprise occasion even before he left for the G20 summit in Osaka.

This is different from President Trump's answer to reporters right before departing for the summit in Japan... saying that he will be meeting with a lot of other people, but not Chairman Kim Jong-un... although he may be speaking to Kim in a different form.

Analysts say, President Trump tried to maximize the dramatic effect of the event by taking the form of an impromptu proposal in public... while preparing for the meet-up in advance under tight security.

And U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun's arrival in Seoul on Thursday adds weight to the speculation that the meeting was planned ahead of time.
The Washington Post also reported on Saturday... that the rumors that the White House was trying to organize a potential meeting had circulated for days in Washington and Seoul.

If the leaders do meet on Sunday, it will be their third meeting.
And some are expecting... that the first trilateral meeting of the leaders of the two Koreas and the U.S might happen as well.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
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