Pyongyang [North Korea], August 27: United States President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung have expressed their willingness to engage with North Korea's hereditary leader, Kim Jong-un, during a meeting at the White House.
Lee, who has promised to "heal the wounds of division and war" as South Korea's new president, told the US leader on Monday that his North Korean counterpart "will be waiting" to meet him.
"I hope you can bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, the only divided nation in the world, so that you can meet with Kim Jong-un", and "build a Trump Tower in North Korea so that I can play golf there", Lee said, speaking in Korean.
Trump, who has met with Kim on three past occasions, told reporters in the Oval Office that he hopes to meet the North Korean leader again this year.
"Someday, I'll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me," Trump said, adding that he knew Kim "better than anybody, almost, other than his sister".
During his meeting with the South Korean president, Trump also said the US should have ownership of South Korean land where some 28,500 American troops are stationed in US military bases.
"We spent a lot of money building a fort, and there was a contribution made by South Korea, but I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base," Trump said.
This was Lee's first visit to the White House after he was elected in June following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who briefly imposed martial law late last year in a move swiftly overturned by lawmakers and which has led to his arrest on alleged insurrection charges.
Since taking office, Lee has publicly made efforts to improve South Korea's relationship with its northern neighbour. But Pyongyang has so far rebuffed the diplomatic overtures.
Last week, Lee said he would seek to restore the so-called September 19 Military Agreement, signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018, suspending military activity along South Korea's border with North Korea as part of an effort to rebuild trust.
Lee's announcement was met with criticism from North Korea, which noted that it came as South Korea embarked on joint military drills with the United States.
North Korean state media said that the drills proved Washington's intention to "occupy" the entire Korean Peninsula .
"If they continuously persist in the military rehearsal, they will certainly face up the unpleasant situation and pay a dear price," Kim Yong-bok, first vice-chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, was cited by North Korean state media KCNA as saying.
Hours before Lee arrived at the White House, Trump took to social media to denounce what he described as "a Purge or Revolution" in South Korea. "WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can't have that and do business there," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Asked about his post during his meeting with Lee, Trump said, "I am sure it's a misunderstanding, but there's a rumour going around about raiding churches . I did hear that from intel."
Last month, South Korean Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki's team raided Unification Church facilities and officials linked with the religious sect, while "investigating various allegations involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee", South Korea's official Yonhap News Agency said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
