On June 30, Donald Trump became
the first sitting US president to visit
North Korea, after stepping across
the border block in the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) between the North and
South Koreas, to meet with Kim
Jong-Un, the leader of North Korea.
The historic meeting between the
two was a last-minute and haphazard
in arrangement. After the G20 summit
in Japan, Trump requested a visit
through Twitter to shake hands and
say hello. Soon afterwards, Trump
showed up in the DMZ on the South
Korean side. He crossed over the
border to meet Kim, followed by
a large photo op as the two shook
hands.
After the crossing over to North
Korea, he and Kim went back across
the border and resumed talks about
the nuclear missiles in the Peace
House.
Originally, the meeting between
those two was supposed to be just
a greeting and a handshake, but it
turned out into an hour-long meeting.
This was the third time that
two leaders had met in person. The
last meeting in Vietnam left some
unresolved talks with regards to
North Korea’s nuclear program.
Both countries will also send
a delegation to start on new
negotiations in the next few weeks
after the meeting as well to resume
the talks.
There has even been plans for
Trump to visit Pyongyang, North
Korea’s capital, and for Kim to visit
Washington D.C. That will come
when everything simmers down
between the two.
Despite the well-publicized
exchange of insults over Twitter
that took place early into Trump’s
term, the meeting in the DMZ was
generally positive and cordial, but
the North Korean mission became
hostile towards the policies of the
United States almost immediately
after the historic meeting.
The North Korean mission
responded coolly towards a letter
sent by the USA on the same day
when Trump and Kim had their little
meeting. The letter was about the
topics of banning exports and imports
from and to Korea and about North
Korean workers being used in foreign
countries.
However, both sides have stated
that they hope that they could work
together to ease tensions and head
towards a brighter future.