President Trump Holds Historic Meeting With Kim Jong Un Inside Korea's DMZ
PANMUNJOM, Korea (CBSNewYork/AP) -- With a symbolic handshake in a region known by many as the "scariest place in the world," President Donald Trump made diplomatic history early Sunday morning as the first U.S. president to step into North Korea.
The president took the historic first step after greeting Northern Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who crossed into the DMZ to shake hands first. The 45th president then took a few steps into the reclusive country, marking a new era in U.S.-Korean politics. The two then walked back into South Korea for an unplanned meeting and possible discussion on how the three countries can move forward.
Trump's surprise trip to South Korea was announced on Friday while the president was in Japan for the G20 summit.
After a brief press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in the two leaders departed for the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which has separated the north and south for over 60 years.
Moon praised the two leaders for "being so brave" to hold the meeting and said, "I hope President Trump will go down in history as the president who achieves peace on Korean Peninsula."
Trump and Moon's joint journey also marked the first time the leaders of South Korea and the U.S. had been in the DMZ at the same time.
The meeting between Trump and Kim also marked another historic first in the year-long dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, who are technically are still at war. The return of face-to-face contact between the leaders was the first since negotiations to end the North's nuclear program broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February.
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