President Donald Trump pivoted from his abrupt cancellation of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it may still happen on the originally scheduled June 12 date.
Mr Trump told reporters on his way to board the presidential helicopter that US officials are in talks with North Korea after the country’s “very nice statement” on Friday.
“We are talking to them now,” Mr Trump said on Friday, adding that the summit with Mr Kim may proceed and “it could even be the 12th.”
“We would like to do it,” Trump said of the summit, and “They very much would like to do it.”
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Read more:
[ North Korea say it is still open to talks with the US ]
[ Trump cancels Kim summit over North Korea’s 'hostility' ]
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North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said on Friday that his country still wanted to pursue peace and said it would give Washington more time to reconsider talks. He added that North Korea "inwardly highly appreciated" Trump for agreeing to the summit, and hoped the "Trump formula" would help lead to a deal between the adversaries.
The statement from Pyongyang appeared designed to get the summit back on track after Trump canceled the Singapore meeting, citing “tremendous anger and open hostility” in recent statements from North Korea.
Asked on Friday if North Korea was playing games ahead of the summit, Mr Trump responded, “Everyone plays games.”
