President Donald Trump has been using his Twitter account to good effect this week, including his cutting commentary about the first two Democratic Party debates.
On his way to South Korea after successfully concluding the G20 economic summit in Japan, Trump invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet him at the Demilitarized Zone.
“If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Trump tweeted Saturday morning Japan time.There was no immediate response from Kim, whose government has been critical of the United States in recent days amid calls for a third Trump-Kim summit to discuss eliminating Kim’s nuclear weapons programs.Trump later told reporters he didn’t know if Kim would take him up on his offer.”I just put out a feeler,” Trump said before a G-20 meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall that South Koran President Moon Jae-in had a handshake with North Korea’s Chairman at the proposed location shortly after the 2018 Singapore Summit.
“I’m gonna be there for a day. I understand that’s one of the places I’ll be visiting,” Trump said during an exclusive interview with The Hill on Monday.Asked if he would meet Kim there if the North Korean leader offered to do so, the president said, “I might, yeah.”The Hill delayed publishing news of the trip earlier in the week at the request of the White House, which cited security concerns about publicizing the president’s plans that far in advance.
To be sure, South Korea’s President Moon has been lobbying hard at the G20 meeting this week for Trump to hold a third summit with Kim, which would promote Moon’s own pursuit of inter-Korean peace. The activities included a special, last-day meeting at the G20.
Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for North Korea, will use Friday meetings to set the table for Mr. Trump after he leaves the Group of 20 summit in Japan and touches down in [Seoul] Saturday.Mr. Biegun and his South Korean counterpart “plan to hold in-depth consultations on ways to cooperate for substantive progress in the Korean Peninsula peace process, including the endeavors for the resumption of North-U.S. dialogue,” Kim In-chul, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told reporters Thursday….“This is a moment of hope after a long, frustrating pause after Hanoi,” Paik Haksoon, president of the Sejong Institute, a leading South Korea think tank, said in an interview on the edge of Myeongdong, a busy shopping district in Seoul.
They say the third time is the charm!
To conclude with a Trump tweet: Imagine the poll numbers if Trump manages to formally end the Korean War and eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea.
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