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Nuclear Weapons test: Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump say they’ll meet in May to discuss nukes

Planned negotiations could herald thaw in relations and reduction of tension on Korean Peninsula

NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump plan to meet in May for nuclear disarmament talks, following the successful visit of a South Korean delegation to Pyongyang this week.

The announcement followed a briefing of US officials by South Korean security chief Chung Eui Yong, who recently met Mr Kim and Pyongyang ministers.

At a quickly called appearance on a White House driveway, Mr Chung said Mr Kim had “expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible” and that Mr Trump “appreciated the briefing and said he would meet [Mr Kim] by May to achieve permanent denuclearisation.”

“Great progress being made,” Mr Trump tweeted.

The talks could represent a substantial thawing of relations, with the US having repeatedly threatened military action against North Korea and the latter having tested nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that might ward off any such attack.

South Korean President Moon Jae In said yesterday that a meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Trump would be a “historic milestone” that would put ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons “really on track.”

Since being elected last May, Mr Moon has helped renew co-operation between the two Koreas.

At the recent Winter Olympics, the South hosted a large Northern delegation and the two states’ athletes marched under a single flag at the opening ceremony.

The more recent visit by Southern officials to the North led to a commitment to further discussions, including between Mr Moon and Mr Kim, and improved communication to keep tensions in check.

Polls published yesterday show that Mr Moon’s popularity rating has rebounded since the plans were made public, suggesting that the South Korean public endorses the efforts.

South Korean media also reported yesterday that Mr Kim and the visiting delegation had frankly discussed sensitive topics, including the massive yearly US-South Korean military exercises seen as rehearsing an invasion of the North.

China, which has long pushed for peaceful negotiations in place of threats and provocations, applauded the announcement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that the Korean “nuclear issue is moving in a right direction towards its settlement.”

He noted Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s comment that “every effort must be made for peace and the opportunity must be seized.”

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