Trump invites Kim to come to US ‘when the time is right’ after crossing into North Korea

President Trump on Sunday invited Kim Jong Un to visit the United States after entering the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to meet with the North Korean leader. 

Trump extended the invitation to Kim following a historic meeting in which he became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil. 

“Leaving South Korea after a wonderful meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” Trump tweeted after their meeting in which the two leaders agreed to restart stalled nuclear negotiations. “Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor!”

Leaving South Korea after a wonderful meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un. Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2019

{mosads}Trump said that he agreed to recommit to nuclear talks following a trilateral meeting with Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to multiple reports. He also reportedly said that he invited Kim to come to the U.S. “when the time is right.”

The president added that he and Kim are “not looking for speed” but instead are “looking to get it right.”

“We are going to have teams, they are going to meet over the next weeks, they are going to start a process and we will see what happens,” he said, The Guardian reported. 

Trump met with Kim for about 45 minutes at the Freedom House on the South Korean side of the DMZ. He said to reporters that U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang would remain in place but that “at some point during the negotiations things can happen.”

The meeting between Trump and Kim came just days after Trump publicly suggested the possibility during the Group of 20 summit in Japan. 

Trump has met with Kim multiple times since becoming president in 2017. Their latest summit in February led to a breakdown in negotiations over the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 

The Trump administration had reportedly been calling for North Korea to abandon its stock of nuclear weapons before international sanctions were rescinded. But North Korea has been eying an approach in which gradual denuclearization is matched by concessions from the U.S., The Associated Press previously noted.