Trump: Location and date for Kim summit to be revealed this week

President previously said the meeting with Kim Jong-un would be held by the end of May or early June

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 30, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and US President Donald Trump arrive to give a joint press conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC.
US President Donald Trump said "things are going very well" after talking with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on April 28, 2018, about an upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON
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US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the date and location for what will be a historic meeting between a sitting American president and the leader of North Korea over denuclearisation could be announced by the end of the week.

Mr Trump previously said the meeting with Kim Jong-un would be held by the end of May or early June. He said earlier this week that he may favour meeting in the Demilitarised Zone, the heavily fortified border separating North and South Korea. He also said Singapore was under consideration as a location.

“I think it’s probably going to be announced over the next couple of days,” he said as he was asked about South Korean president Moon Jae-in’s recent suggestion that Mr Trump get the Nobel Peace Prize as long as the Koreas receive peace in return.

“I just think that president Moon was very nice when he suggested it,” Mr Trump said. “I want to get peace. The main thing, we want to get peace. It was a big problem, and I think it’s going to work out.”

The audience at a campaign rally Mr Trump headlined over the weekend in Michigan broke into chants of “Nobel!” when he began talking about North Korea.

The president said on Monday that meeting at the DMZ is appealing “because you’re there” and any celebration would be memorable if the talks prove successful.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to discuss internal deliberations over possible locations.

“The list has been narrowed as the president said and we expect to have an announcement on that soon,” she told reporters.

Mr Kim and Mr Moon held talks last week at the DMZ. Mr Trump tried to visit the DMZ when he was in Asia in November but was thwarted by heavy fog.

He surprised his advisers and others in March by quickly agreeing to meet with Mr Kim after receiving a briefing from a South Korean delegation that had met with the North’s leader.