President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would "guarantee" Kim Jong Un's safety at their planned summit meeting.
Trump was holding a press conference in the Oval Office with South Korean President Moon Jae-in when a reporter asked if he could guarantee Kim would be safe during their planned meeting.
"I will guarantee his safety, yes. We will guarantee his safety, and we've talked about that from the beginning," Trump said. "He will be safe; he will be happy. His country will be rich; his country will be hard-working and very prosperous."
Trump stressed how much good the summit meeting could potentially yield for the welfare of the North Korean people if Kim attends and comes to a deal with Trump.
"Yeah, I think that he will be extremely happy if something works out, and if it doesn't work out, honestly, he can't be happy," Trump said. "But he has a chance to do something that maybe has never been done before. And I think if you look 25 years in the future, 50 years into the future, he will be able to look back and be very proud of what he did for North Korea – and actually, for the world – but he will be very proud of what he did for North Korea."
Trump also spoke of South Korea as an example, noting how highly developed and technologically advanced the country has become with the assistance of the United States.
Kim is reported to be particularly concerned with his safety and the potential for assassinations attempts. When he traveled to China in March, the North Korean dictator traveled in an armored train.
While the Trump administration has continued to express optimism a deal can be reached with Kim, Trump said Tuesday that the summit may not happen on the planned date of June 12.
"We'll see what happens," Trump said. "If it doesn't happen, maybe it'll happen later. Maybe it'll happen at a different time. But we are talking."