White House Confirms Plans Underway for Second Trump–Kim Meeting

WASHINGTON—The White House confirmed on Sept. 10 that President Donald Trump has received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un requesting another meeting, following their historic June meeting in Singapore.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called the letter very “warm” and “positive,” and said the White House is actively working to set up a meeting.

The White House has said previously said that it would consider holding a second round of talks between the two leaders only if it saw progress being made on North Korea’s promise to denuclearize.

Just the day before, North Korea held its annual parade to celebrate the anniversary of its founding, with the notable absence of ballistic missiles and a nuclear test. The parade focused instead on economic development, a sign that Trump hailed as a shift in the right direction for the small communist nation that has, for more than a decade, sought to build itself up with nuclear weapons.

“This is a big and very positive statement from North Korea. Thank you To Chairman Kim,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Sept. 9. “We will both prove everyone wrong!”

Sanders said that the parade, combined with the repatriation of remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War, the return of three American hostages, and no recent nuclear tests, all show that North Korea is making progress on promises Kim made to Trump at their last meeting.

“It’s certainly something that we want to take place,” Sanders said about their next meeting. “At the end of the day, ultimately, it’s always going to be best when you can have the two leaders sit down, particularly from the North Korean side; as we know most of the decisions are going to have to be run through Kim Jong Un.”

She declined to say when or where the meeting might take place.

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