President Donald Trump greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone where the two agreed to restart talks over North Korea's nuclear program. With the walk into the DMZ, Trump became the first sitting American president to enter North Korea.
He only remained in the DMZ for approximately one minute, according to The New York Times. Afterwards, he walked Kim back to the southern side of the DMZ where they briefly addressed journalists before heading inside to have a private conversation.
Dan Scavino, assistant to Trump, recorded the historic moment and shared it on social media.
— Dan Scavino Jr. Archived (@Scavino45) June 30, 2019
The Washington Post reported that the private conversation lasted 53 minutes, and resulted in an agreement to establish teams to try to bring the two sides together again to discuss North Korea's nuclear program.
"This has a lot of significance because it means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past and try to create a new future, so it’s a very courageous and determined act," Kim told reporters through a translator.
"Stepping across that line was a great honor," Trump added.
Trump said the meeting was a "very good one." He also said he would have Kim visit the United States at some point in the future.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will select a team to work on a new round of negotiations after the last meeting broke down with no progress made on negotiations. Trump walked away from the table after Kim insisted on the removal of sanctions prior to the dismantling of the nuclear program. The Trump administration has taken a hard line stance that denuclearization has to occur before sanctions are removed.
The meeting comes in the wake of recent reports that North Korea is testing short range projectiles. South Korea expressed concern over the tests, and Trump said at the time that he was still confident a deal could be met with North Korea on its missile program.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also accompanied Trump in his walk into the DMZ, the Post reported.