WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump and the meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he is looking forward to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it “should be quite something.”
Trump spoke at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday. He congratulated the leaders of North and South Korea after a historic summit and said his meeting with Kim will happen in the “coming weeks.”
Trump said a “maximum pressure” campaign will continue “until denuclearization occurs.”
Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in. The leaders pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year’s end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons.
___
2 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “serious” about denuclearization.
But Pompeo cautions that “promises have been made” and then broken in the past.
He spoke Friday at NATO headquarters in Brussels on his first overseas trip as America’s top diplomat. Pompeo won confirmation from the Senate on Thursday.
He recently met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea.
On Friday, the leaders of North and South Korea vowed to seek a nuclear-free peninsula and work toward a formal end to the Korean War this year. But their historic summit concluded with few specifics on how they will reach those ambitious goals.
___
12:11 p.m.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. is “not going to be played” when it comes to peace talks with North Korea.
Trump sat alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House Friday and said that talks on the divided Korean peninsula have “never gone this far.”
Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in.
The leaders pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year’s end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons, without specifying how it would be achieved.
Trump credited his own leadership for why talks will “be different” in these negotiations.
___
11:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump is expressing hope that the people of North and South Korea can someday live in harmony a day after a historic meeting between the two countries.
Trump says as he welcomes the U.S. Olympic team to the White House that he hopes “all of the people of Korea - North Korea and South - can someday live in harmony, prosperity and peace.”
And he says that despite many saying it was impossible, “it looks like it could happen.”
The comments came a day after meeting between the North’s Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Trump is expected to meet with Kim in late May or June.
He also says he hopes that one day athletes from the two countries can compete “on a Korean peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons.”
___
7:06 a.m.
President Donald Trump tweeted “KOREAN WAR TO END” Friday after a historic meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea.
Trump responded to the meeting of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in South Korea. They pledged in a joint statement to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons - but didn’t identify any specific new measures to achieve that.
Trump is expected to meet with Kim in late May or June.
He tweeted: “KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!”
In a separate tweet sent minutes earlier, Trump said, “good things are happening, but only time will tell.”
Trump later offered credit to China.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.