SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – President Donald Trump returned to the White House Sunday night after a four-day visit to Asia highlighted by a history-making, if brief, side trip to North Korea. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed that nuclear talks should begin anew, the only clear accomplishment from the international media event. Democratic critics remain skeptical of future progress on the nuclear question.
North Korea’s state media is describing leader Kim Jong Un’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the Demilitarized Zone as “an amazing event” in the border village it notes is a symbol of the Korean Peninsula’s division.
The Korean Central News Agency reports that the two leaders expressed great satisfaction over the results of their talks. Also included in the state media report is a description of Kim exchanging “warm greetings” with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in.
Trump and Kim agreed to restart negotiations designed to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, a point included in the state media recap of the event.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2019
President Donald Trump is calling his brief venture into North Korea “a great honor” and hailing what he says was “a wonderful meeting” with Kim Jong Un. North Korea’s state media calls their meeting Sunday at the Demilitarized Zone “an amazing event.” Back in the U.S., Trump’s Democratic critics question whether the event at the North Korea-South Korea demarcation line will actually lead to a breakthrough on nuclear talks.
The DMZ meeting on Sunday was an unexpected addition to Trump’s Asia trip. He became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.
In reaction, Democratic lawmakers in the United States, including some running for the White House, say there’s little in President Donald Trump’s diplomatic track to convince them that his meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) may lead to a nuclear breakthrough.
Trump is coming under criticism for what Democrats see as his affinity for authoritarian leaders such as Kim and they are skeptical that the Trump-Kim sit-down at the Demilitarized Zone may amount to anything more than a photo opportunity.
(Associated Press)
