ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has agreed to a high-stakes meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by this May on his nuclear weapons program, South Korea’s national security adviser announced at the White House Thursday evening. He had briefed the president on a message from Kim earlier in the day.
The White House said afterward that Trump “will accept the invitation,” and the president tweeted “Great progress being made…”
The South Korean envoy said that in his recent talks with Kim, the North Korean leader had expressed an eagerness to meet with Trump as soon as possible.
He said that Kim had said he was committed to denuclearization, suspending more missile tests, and had agreed that U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises the North objects to must continue.
“I explained to President Trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture,” said Chung Eui-Yong. “I expressed President Moon Jae-in’s personal gratitude for President Trump’s leadership,” he said, referring to South Korea’s president.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement shortly afterward from the U.S. side saying, “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. We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.”
Later Thursday evening, Trump tweeted: “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!”
A senior administration official told reporters the president deserves credit for the dramatic developments.
“I think that history speaks for itself, ” the official said, adding “as President Moon expressed, he believes that we’re at this juncture precisely because of the approach President Trump has taken with maximum pressure. President Trump has made his reputation on making deals and Kim Jong Un is the one person who is able to make decisions under their…totalitarian system and so it makes sense to accept an invitation to meet with the one person who can actually make decisions instead of repeating this sort of long slog of the past.”
“At this point, we’re not even talking about negotiations. What we’re talking about is an invitation by the leader of North Korea to meet face-to-face with the president of the United States. The president has accepted that invitation,” the official said.
The official said the president “has always left the door open to dialogue” at the right time, adding that the message from South Korea’s national security adviser was conveyed orally to the president after Kim Jong Un conveyed the message to South Korea’s national security adviser during their meetings.
“There was not a letter,” the official said. “This was a message conveyed orally by Kim Jong Un to the national security advisor of South Korea during the several hours of meetings just a couple days ago in Pyongyang and Ambassador Chung, who is the national security advisor, then conveyed to the president today in the Oval Office.”
“Part of that message was a commitment to denuclearize,” the official said. “It was also a commitment to refrain from testing nuclear weapons or missiles and it was also an invitation. I would also add Kim Jong Un had made clear that he understands that routine defensive exercises between the Republic of Korea and United States must continue – something that will continue and he conveyed that he wants to meet with President Trump as quickly as possible.”
President Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the news, the official said.
The dramatic disclosure came after Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon to expect a major announcement from South Korea.
That word from the president comes after a South Korean delegation met with top national security officials at the White House earlier in the day.
After talks with South Korean officials in the past few days, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has indicated a willingness to hold talks with the U.S. about denuclearization.
After Trump ducked into the White House briefing room to tease the announcement, ABC News’ Jonathan Karl ran into Trump himself who told Karl it was going to be a big deal.
“You should be there,” Trump said. When Karl asked him whether the announcement was about possible talks with North Korea, Trump responded, “It’s almost beyond that. Hopefully, you will give me credit.”
The president was accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence.
Officials said South Korea’s national security adviser would make the 7 p.m. announcement in the White House briefing room.
According to an administration official, a “large delegation of United States government officials” were debriefed by a South Korean delegation.
Among the U.S. officials in the room, per this official, were National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
The officials said that after that meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the so-called Blue House delegation accompanied by McMaster went to the Oval Office to debrief the president. At some point after that, the president decided to drop by the briefing room to tease an announcement.
The U.S. and South Korea postponed this year’s annual “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve” exercises until after the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games being held in South Korea. The exercises typically involve additional air, sea and ground forces beyond the 28,500 American troops regularly deployed to South Korea.
“The focus during this time is the security and success of the Olympics,” said Lt. Colonel Christopher Logan, a Defense Department spokesman. “We will release additional information about future exercises after the Olympics.”
The Paralympic Games end on March 18, but the Pentagon has not officially announced a start date for both exercises that are typically held every March and April.
According to a U.S. official, though, the Foal Eagle exercise will begin on March 31 and last for two months. The Key Resolve exercise will begin in mid-April and extend through the first week in May, the official said.
During Foal Eagle, large numbers of U.S. and South Korean military personnel carry out realistic training scenarios throughout South Korea. But Key Resolve involves only headquarters units reacting to computer simulations.
North Korea has often condemned the Foal Eagle exercise and used it as an excuse for its provocative missile and nuclear tests.
“North Korea objects to Foal Eagle because it involves U.S. troops coming to South Korea, and participating in realistic joint training, said Steve Ganyard, ABC News contributor. “It directly counteracts North Korean propaganda and points out the strength of the U.S. and South Korean military alliance.”
But North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have softened that stance with his recent overture for denuclearization talks with the United States.
South Korean officials who met with Kim this past weekend said he told them he understood why South Korea holds the exercises and said they would be hard to cancel anyway.
“If Kim sticks to his playbook, ceasing field exercises like Foal Eagle will be among the first North Korean demands,” said Ganyard. “He sees it as a way to weaken the South’s military defense and thereby divide the alliance.”
Ganyard said the first test of the strength of the U.S.-South Korean alliance will be if Kim’s demand gains popular support in South Korea while the U.S. would probably want to see North Korea make concrete proposals, particularly about doing away with its nuclear weapons program.
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