In an extremely surprising announcement, the White House and North Korean national security adviser said that American president Donald Trump had given green signals to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The meeting will be held by May, this year.

On Thursday, the North Korean leader sent an invitation to Trump through officials from South Korea after which the US president tweeted saying, “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!”

White House secretary, Sarah Sanders announced in a statement, “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”.

This comes as a breakthrough because, as of Thursday, North Korea did not seem interested in taking any diplomatic steps with the US. With this stunning decision, Donald Trump will be the first ever sitting US president to meet his North Korean counterpart.

This is seen as a massive change in the approach of the US president towards North Korea considering his earlier threats to rain “fire and fury”. America earlier faced rising nuclear threats from North Korea after which Trump warned the country of any provocations and pledged that it will result into a destruction “that the world has never seen before”.

First Published:Mar 9, 2018 4:27 AM IST