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Korean leaders hold surprise weekend summit

NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un met his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae In at a surprise summit in the demilitarised zone on Saturday, their second meeting in as many months.

The pair met as US President Donald Trump appeared to flip-flop over the planned summit with Mr Kim who reaffirmed his commitment to engage in “direct communication” with Washington over its nuclear programme.

Mr Trump changed his mind after initially cancelling the meeting planned in Singapore for June 12 blaming North Korean hostilities and a failure to stick to agreements, including a pledge to allow international inspectors to monitor the destruction of a nuclear test site. 

The meeting seemed to be back on after Mr Trump said the two countries were having “very productive talks.”

“Everybody plays games.They very much want to do it; we’d like to do it,” he told a press conference on Friday.

Mr Moon confirmed Saturday’s surprise meeting between the two Korean leaders was instigated by Mr Kim.

The meeting at the Panmunjom border truce village north of the demilitarised zone heard Mr Kim “again make clear his commitment to a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the South Korean leader said.

However, Mr Moon explained that Pyongyang remains unclear whether it can trust the United States to end its hostile relationship and threats against North Korea.

In a statement Mr Kim warned: "If the US awkwardly attempts to provoke North Korea, it will not escape from the biggest disaster in history.” 

The Korean leaders planned a further meeting on Friday.

Mr Trump and Mr Kim agreed to a historic summit in March this year to end escalating tensions between the two nations. 

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