The occasion would make Donald Trump the first ever sitting US president to meet a leader of the communist, autocratic state in its 73-year history.
ADVERTISEMENTThe US president has confirmed he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.
It would make Donald Trump the first ever sitting US president to meet a leader of the communist, autocratic state.
In a message posted on Twitter on Thursday, Donald Trump told his 51 million followers he hoped the summit would be "very special moment for World Peace".
The announcement comes hours after the President oversaw the return of three Korean-American detainees from North Korea, who had been held in the country for around a year or more.
The men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, were released Wednesday amid thawing relations between the two countries, although North Korea is still regarded as a state sponsor of terror by the the White House.
"I appreciate Kim Jong-un for doing this," Trump told reporters at the time.
Trump’s tweet also comes less than two weeks after South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook hands and embraced Kim Jong-un in an unprecedented show of peace while their countries were still technically at war.
The pair greeted each other in the the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two countries, on April 27.
North Korea’s peaceful rapprochement stands in stark contrast to their behaviour last year. The country’s frequent nuclear missile tests and threats to wage an atomic war against the South angered the international community, prompting China, their key ally, to double down on UN Security Council sanctions banning imports of North Korean oil, coal, textiles and food.
The rogue state’s threats against the US particularly irked the President, who warned in August that he would retaliate with “fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before”.
North Korea, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has been governed by one family for most of its 73-year history, after the penninsula was split at the end of World War II in 1945. Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un took power in 2011 following the death of his predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il, who succeeded his father Kim Il-sung in 1994.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect the expected meeting is on June 12.