Donald Trump has announced the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place on June 12 in Singapore.
“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th.
“We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” Trump said on Twitter.
The two leaders are expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons development and testing program, which has deepened long-seated tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
Trump’s announcement came just hours after three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea arrived at a US military base outside Washington, having been released by Kim.
Trump said on their arrival that he believed Kim wanted to bring North Korea “into the real world” and had high hopes for their planned meeting, which would be the first between a serving US president and a North Korean leader.
“I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful,” Trump said. “My proudest achievement will be – this is part of it – when we denuclearise that entire peninsula.”
The South Korean government said it had high hopes for the summit.
“We welcome the North Korea-US summit to be held in Singapore on June 12. We hope the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula as well as permanent peace on the peninsula will successfully come about through this summit.”
The choice of Singapore will put the summit on friendly turf for Trump, as the island nation is a strong US ally and the US Navy frequently visits its port.
US officials had looked at several sites other than Singapore for the historic meeting but each was seen as problematic.
Trump’s own preference was for the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, but aides argued that this would look too much like Trump going to Kim’s turf.
A quick trip to Pyongyang was also seen as bad optics for Trump, US officials said.
Mongolia was considered but was seen as too close to China, they added.