Winning
Dafinch is a homo
Dafinch is a homo
[h=1]Trump agrees to meet Kim Jong-un by MAY: North Korean despot invites President to talks and agrees to suspend missile tests[/h]
- South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong informed U.S. press of the expected in-person conversation
- Made the announcement from the North Lawn of the White House, steps from the West Wing
- White House confirmed that talks would take place but did not second Chung's claim that it would happen before May
- Neither Chung nor the White House said where the talk would take place
- Trump tweeted an hour after the announcement that 'great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached'
- As part of the initial agreement, Kim said, according to the South Korean government, that he would freeze nuclear and ballistic missile tests
- Kim also understands that the U.S. and South Korea will continue their routine, joint military exercises, officials from both countries stressed
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]5:08 PM - 8 Mar 2018
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned![/FONT]
[FONT="]5:08 PM - 8 Mar 2018
[/FONT]
President Donald Trump has accepted North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's dramatic offer to meet, and he'll do it by May, a South Korean official said Thursday evening.
South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong informed U.S. press of the expected in-person conversation and said the goal of the unprecedented meeting between the two countries' leaders is permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Chung did not say where the meeting would take place.
A half hour after the foreign official announced the meeting steps from the West Wing, the White House confirmed Trump's participation. But it did not second Chung's claim that talks would be held within the next two months.
A statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the place and time of the meeting was still being worked out.
'President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined,' Sanders said. 'We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.'
+14
President Donald Trump has accepted North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's dramatic offer to meet, and he'll do it by May, a South Korean official said Thursday evening
+14
Trump popped into the White House press briefing room on Thursday evening and told a small contingent of reporters who just happened to be present that an announcement was coming this evening
+14
South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong told U.S. press that the goal of the face-to-face talk is to achieve permanent denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula
A U.S. official said the meeting would take place in 'a matter of a couple of months' but did not commit the president to a face-to-face with Kim this spring.
Kim made the overture to U.S. president who has repeatedly called him 'Little Rocket Man' orally through Chung, the person said.
'He conveyed that he wants to meet with President Trump as quickly as possible,' the senior official stated.
The North Koreans are offering to suspend their nuclear missile testing program, Chung told White House officials before he briefed press from the building's North Lawn.
Chung said that Kim understands and accepts the fact that joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises will continue.
The senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters after Chung's televised statement said the stiff punishing actions on North Korea would also stay in place.
'At this point we're not even talking about negotiations,' the official said of a plan to hold North Korea to its word that it would freeze its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile development programs.
President Trump reiterated the point in a tweet that followed.
'Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!' the U.S. president said.
+14
Stiff punishing actions on North Korea will continue, despite the overture, the U.S. stressed
Chung had met Kim earlier in the week in Pyongyang, the dictator's capital. After relaying parts of his conversation to reporters in Seoul and appraising South Korean President Moon Jae-in of the situation, Chung flew to Washington.
At the White House on Thursday, Chung and other South Korean officials briefed the president and his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, as well Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, his secretary of defense, James Mattis, and the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was traveling abroad in Ethiopia.
'I explained to President Trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture. I expressed President Moon Jae-in's personal gratitude for President Trump's leadership,' Chung said at an outdoor briefing position that's typically used by lawmakers and organization heads who want to speak to the press after White House meetings.
Chung says he relayed Kim's commitment to denuclearization.
'Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible,' the South Korean official said.
'President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization,' Chung said.
Trump had pre-empted Chung by saying that South Korea would making a major announcement this evening at 7pm EDT on North Korea.
The president popped into the White House press briefing room on Thursday evening at close of business and told a small contingent of reporters who just happened to be present that an announcement was coming.
+14
Peace move: Kim Jong Un held face to face talks with South Korea's delegation this week - and has passed a message to Trump offering to meet
The U.S. president gave no indication of what would be declared but suggested with the surprise appearance that the news would be positive.
White House press officers scrambled to make good on Trump's pledge, waiting until just 30 minutes before the time of the announcement to say where it would take place and that the update from would come from Chung.
Talks are a 180 from Trump's complaint last fall that Tillerson, his secretary of state, was 'wasting his time' with diplomacy.
Tillerson had suggested that officials from the U.S. and North Korea sit down for talks without preconditions only to have the White House assert that a conversation would only take place if Kim agreed to abandon his nuclear weapons program.
Tensions began to thaw as the Winter Olympics approached. The games, held just across the border from Pyongyang in South Korea, provided an opportunity for the two Koreas to renew ties.
Earlier this week, Chung spent two days in the neighboring country that ended with a proffer to the U.S. to halt nuclear and missile testings and take up talks.
Trump said Tuesday that a 'very good dialogue' had opened up with North Korea as he cautiously approached Pyongyang's proposition.
He told reporters in the Oval Office that the conversations had yielded progress, striking an optimistic tone.
'We're gonna see. We're gonna see,' he told a journalist asking about North Korea's commitment to ending its nuclear weapons program if it no longer felt threatened. 'They seem to be acting positively, but we're gonna see.'
South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong informed U.S. press of the expected in-person conversation and said the goal of the unprecedented meeting between the two countries' leaders is permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Chung did not say where the meeting would take place.
A half hour after the foreign official announced the meeting steps from the West Wing, the White House confirmed Trump's participation. But it did not second Chung's claim that talks would be held within the next two months.
A statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the place and time of the meeting was still being worked out.
'President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined,' Sanders said. 'We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.'
+14
President Donald Trump has accepted North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's dramatic offer to meet, and he'll do it by May, a South Korean official said Thursday evening
+14
Trump popped into the White House press briefing room on Thursday evening and told a small contingent of reporters who just happened to be present that an announcement was coming this evening
+14
South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong told U.S. press that the goal of the face-to-face talk is to achieve permanent denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula
A U.S. official said the meeting would take place in 'a matter of a couple of months' but did not commit the president to a face-to-face with Kim this spring.
Kim made the overture to U.S. president who has repeatedly called him 'Little Rocket Man' orally through Chung, the person said.
'He conveyed that he wants to meet with President Trump as quickly as possible,' the senior official stated.
The North Koreans are offering to suspend their nuclear missile testing program, Chung told White House officials before he briefed press from the building's North Lawn.
Chung said that Kim understands and accepts the fact that joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises will continue.
The senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters after Chung's televised statement said the stiff punishing actions on North Korea would also stay in place.
'At this point we're not even talking about negotiations,' the official said of a plan to hold North Korea to its word that it would freeze its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile development programs.
President Trump reiterated the point in a tweet that followed.
'Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!' the U.S. president said.
+14
Stiff punishing actions on North Korea will continue, despite the overture, the U.S. stressed
Chung had met Kim earlier in the week in Pyongyang, the dictator's capital. After relaying parts of his conversation to reporters in Seoul and appraising South Korean President Moon Jae-in of the situation, Chung flew to Washington.
At the White House on Thursday, Chung and other South Korean officials briefed the president and his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, as well Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, his secretary of defense, James Mattis, and the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was traveling abroad in Ethiopia.
'I explained to President Trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture. I expressed President Moon Jae-in's personal gratitude for President Trump's leadership,' Chung said at an outdoor briefing position that's typically used by lawmakers and organization heads who want to speak to the press after White House meetings.
Chung says he relayed Kim's commitment to denuclearization.
'Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible,' the South Korean official said.
'President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization,' Chung said.
Trump had pre-empted Chung by saying that South Korea would making a major announcement this evening at 7pm EDT on North Korea.
The president popped into the White House press briefing room on Thursday evening at close of business and told a small contingent of reporters who just happened to be present that an announcement was coming.
+14
Peace move: Kim Jong Un held face to face talks with South Korea's delegation this week - and has passed a message to Trump offering to meet
The U.S. president gave no indication of what would be declared but suggested with the surprise appearance that the news would be positive.
White House press officers scrambled to make good on Trump's pledge, waiting until just 30 minutes before the time of the announcement to say where it would take place and that the update from would come from Chung.
Talks are a 180 from Trump's complaint last fall that Tillerson, his secretary of state, was 'wasting his time' with diplomacy.
Tillerson had suggested that officials from the U.S. and North Korea sit down for talks without preconditions only to have the White House assert that a conversation would only take place if Kim agreed to abandon his nuclear weapons program.
Tensions began to thaw as the Winter Olympics approached. The games, held just across the border from Pyongyang in South Korea, provided an opportunity for the two Koreas to renew ties.
Earlier this week, Chung spent two days in the neighboring country that ended with a proffer to the U.S. to halt nuclear and missile testings and take up talks.
Trump said Tuesday that a 'very good dialogue' had opened up with North Korea as he cautiously approached Pyongyang's proposition.
He told reporters in the Oval Office that the conversations had yielded progress, striking an optimistic tone.
'We're gonna see. We're gonna see,' he told a journalist asking about North Korea's commitment to ending its nuclear weapons program if it no longer felt threatened. 'They seem to be acting positively, but we're gonna see.'
+14
President Donald Trump cautiously approached North Korea's offer to freeze its nuclear program while it holds a 'candid dialogue' with the United States on Tuesday
First, Trump sent out a tweet on Tuesday morning that said, 'We will see what happens!'
The U.S. president said he wants to take the 'proper' pathway, which he suggested was diplomatic talks, 'But we are prepared to go either way.'
'And as I said, hopefully we'll go in the very, very peaceful, beautiful path. We're prepared to go whichever path is necessary,' he added. 'I think we're having very good dialogue, and you're gonna certainly find out very soon what's happening, but we have, we have made progress, there's no question about it.'
That morning, Trump warned North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, 'The U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!'
The U.S. president said then that 'possible progress' toward talks had been made, but it could also be a 'false hope.'
On Saturday evening, Trump said that the North Koreans had reached out and his administration would be meeting with Kim's government.
'They, by the way, called up a couple of days ago and said, "We would like to talk." And I said, "So would we, but you have to de-nuke, you have to de-nuke." So, let's see what happens,' the president stated. 'But we will be meeting and we'll see if anything positive happens.'
An National Security Council spokesman did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for clarification, and a senior official would not tell reporters during a call on Tuesday afternoon if talks were already under way.
+14
Then he said that talks were 'possible' -- but they could also be a 'false hope' -- and the 'U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction'
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven offered Tuesday during a joint press conference with Trump at the White House to mediate talks with the North Koreans, if that is what Trump wants.
His country maintains an embassy in Pyongyang and serves at the United States' protectorate there.
Löfven said it's not up to Sweden to solve the dispute, however, he believes that the North Koreans trust his nation to act as arbiter.
'If the president decides, the key actors decide, if they want us to help out,' he said, 'we'll be there.'
Other potential meeting places were the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Korea, in addition to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo.
A senior U.S. official said Thursday evening that Trump had spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The official did not say if a call to China's Xi Jinping was also underway.
Complicating a conversation between Trump and Xi was the U.S. president's announcement on Thursday afternoon that he was slapping a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent penalty on imported aluminum in an aggressive bid to prevent Chinese dumping and boost American metal workers.
+14
Big step: Kim Jong Un,pictured meeting South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong, in Pyongyang, has said he is ready to discuss de-nuclearization with the U.S.
A week ago, Trump signaled his openness to a talk with Kim -- if it took place 'under the right conditions.'
'Otherwise, we're not talking,' Trump told United States governors.
He commented that Kim 'wants to talk, as of last night' and said 'we want to talk also.'
Trump went on to make a familiar complaint about his predecessors, blasting former President Bill Clinton and others for failing to keep North Korea in check.
'The Clinton administration spent billions and billions of dollars. They gave them billions. They built things for them. They went out of their way, and the day after the agreement was signed, they continued with nuclear research. It was horrible.'
Continuing, Trump said, 'The Bush administration did nothing — both. The Obama administration wanted to do something. He told me it’s the single biggest problem that this country has. But they didn’t do anything.
'And it would have been much easier, in those days, than it is now. I think most people understand that. But we’ve been very tough with them.'
Trump's administration has led an international charge to cripple North Korea's economy and bring Kim to his knees. The advance will not cease, the U.S. has said, until the rogue dictator abandons his nuclear ambitions.
At his White House news conference on Tuesday, Trump said he believes that the North Koreans are sincere in their offer to halt nuclear and missile tests if the United States sits down for talks.
'But I think they're sincere also because the sanctions,' he assessed. 'The sanctions have been very, very strong and very biting. And we don't want that to happen. So I really believe they are sincere. I hope they're sincere. We're going to soon find out.'
The Pyeongchang Games provided a long-awaited opening for the kind of detente that could lead to substantive talks between North Korea and South Korea, along with the United States and its allies.
The two Koreas marched under one flag at the opening ceremony of the games, and Kim sent his sister, Kim Yo Jong, to the South to head the North's delegation.
A South Korean envoy lead by Chung returned Tuesday to Seoul from a meeting with Kim in Pyongyang where the North Koreans are said to have offered to halt nuclear tests for the time being if the United States agrees to talks.
+14
Televisions being sold at an Onoden Co. electronics store display a broadcast of a news report on North Korea's Nov. 29 missile launch, showing footage captioned as the launch of the Hwasong-12 missile in September, in Tokyo, Japan
North Korea also expressed its willingness during the two-day summit to put a total moratorium on its nuclear program if the South backs off from military behavior it perceives to be a threat.
Chung said said that Kim promised not to use nuclear or conventional weapons against South Korea in the conversation where the two countries also agreed to open a hotline between their leaders 'to ease military tension and have close coordination' and meet for another round of talks in April.
The next summit is expected to take place in Panmunjom. It will be only the third inter-Korean set of talks ever held and the first in more than a decade.
The last time the rival countries held high-level talks was in 2007, when the North was under Kim's father's command. A summit in 2000 also took place while Kim Jong Il controlled the North. The elder Kim passed away in 2011, giving rise to Kim Jong-un's reign.
Chung said Tuesday that the younger Kim, 34, said he wants to 'write a new history of national reunification' during a four-hour dinner this week in Pyongyang.
+14
Special guests: Kim Jong Un sits next to his wife Ri Sol-Ju, with his sister Kim Yo-Jong sat to the right of one of the South Korean diplomats during a meal hosted by North Korea
+14
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets members of the special delegation of South Korea's President in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency
As the Olympics unfolded in South Korea, the United States loudly warned the world that Kim was putting on a charm offensive.
Vice President Mike Pence, who led the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony, urged the international community, and South Korea, not let up on the North until Kim fully capitulates when it comes to his building of nuclear weapons.
'The policy of the U.S. is the denuclearization of North Korea. The maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. All options are on the table,' a senior official said of Pence's message to Moon as he departed the peninsula.
Pence announced during the trip, and the United States followed up with, a rigorous set of sanctions that the Trump administration described as the largest and most aggressive to date.
Treasury blacklisted one person, 27 companies and 28 ships with the action it says was 'aimed at shutting down North Korea’s illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal.' The sanctions hit entities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore and others.
Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, said that nearly all of North Korea's shipping sector had now been targeted. The total number of sanctions steps since 2005 has now hit 45 - with almost half of the actions coming since Trump took office.
At a press conference later in the day, Trump said he'd make preparations for 'phase two' if the punishing actions are not successful, the outcome of which could be 'very, very unfortunate for the world.'
'But hopefully the sanctions will work,' he said during remarks at a joint White House press conference with the Australian prime minister.
Vice President Mike Pence, who led the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony, urged the international community, and South Korea, not let up on the North until Kim fully capitulates when it comes to his building of nuclear weapons.
'The policy of the U.S. is the denuclearization of North Korea. The maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. All options are on the table,' a senior official said of Pence's message to Moon as he departed the peninsula.
Pence announced during the trip, and the United States followed up with, a rigorous set of sanctions that the Trump administration described as the largest and most aggressive to date.
Treasury blacklisted one person, 27 companies and 28 ships with the action it says was 'aimed at shutting down North Korea’s illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal.' The sanctions hit entities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore and others.
Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, said that nearly all of North Korea's shipping sector had now been targeted. The total number of sanctions steps since 2005 has now hit 45 - with almost half of the actions coming since Trump took office.
At a press conference later in the day, Trump said he'd make preparations for 'phase two' if the punishing actions are not successful, the outcome of which could be 'very, very unfortunate for the world.'
'But hopefully the sanctions will work,' he said during remarks at a joint White House press conference with the Australian prime minister.
+14
The North Korean dictator shakes hands with South Korea's national security director Chung Eui-yong as his sister looks on
+14
No insight: Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government
+14
Envoys for South Korea led by President Moon's national security director, Chung Eui-yong, are on a rare two-day visit to Pyongyang that's expected to focus on how to ease a standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions and restart talks between Pyongyang and Washington
A senior administration official told reporters then, 'The president is clearly frustrated and rightly so over the efforts that have failed in the past and also over the uptick in testing and the advances we’ve seen in the North Korean program.'
In his Tuesday morning tweets on North Korea, Trump said, 'Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned.
'The World is watching and waiting!' he added. 'May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!'
His comment suggested that military action against North Korea is still in his back pocket, despite the decreased likelihood of a confrontation.
President Trump said Saturday evening during a roast at a dinner in Washington that's held off camera that he 'won't rule out direct talks' with Kim.
'As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that's his problem, not mine,' he joked.
Trump went on to say that Kim 'must be a fine man' and that his hardline against North Korea saved the Winter Olympics.
'Without President Trump and his strong attitude they would have never called up and said, "Hey, we'd love to be in the Olympics together," ' he recalled South Korea's Moon as saying. 'It was heading for disaster and now we're talking.'
Diving off script in the 35-minute speech that was supposed to stay light and last approximately 10 minutes, Trump said, 'Maybe positive things are happening. I hope that's true, and I say that in all seriousness.
'But we will be meeting, and we'll see if anything positive happens. It's been a long time,' he said. 'It's a problem that should have been fixed a long time ago.'
In his Tuesday morning tweets on North Korea, Trump said, 'Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned.
'The World is watching and waiting!' he added. 'May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!'
His comment suggested that military action against North Korea is still in his back pocket, despite the decreased likelihood of a confrontation.
President Trump said Saturday evening during a roast at a dinner in Washington that's held off camera that he 'won't rule out direct talks' with Kim.
'As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that's his problem, not mine,' he joked.
Trump went on to say that Kim 'must be a fine man' and that his hardline against North Korea saved the Winter Olympics.
'Without President Trump and his strong attitude they would have never called up and said, "Hey, we'd love to be in the Olympics together," ' he recalled South Korea's Moon as saying. 'It was heading for disaster and now we're talking.'
Diving off script in the 35-minute speech that was supposed to stay light and last approximately 10 minutes, Trump said, 'Maybe positive things are happening. I hope that's true, and I say that in all seriousness.
'But we will be meeting, and we'll see if anything positive happens. It's been a long time,' he said. 'It's a problem that should have been fixed a long time ago.'
