President Trump, Kim Jong-un likely to meet in Singapore
What's the story
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are likely to meet in Singapore next month, reports said Monday, as anticipation builds for unprecedented talks between the mercurial leaders. Trump said the two sides had settled on a date and location for the summit, the first between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader, without providing details. Here's more.
Hosting time
Trump will host Moon Jae-in at White House
The landmark summit will take place in "mid-June", South Korea's Chosun Ilbo daily reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources who quoted Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton. The newspaper suggested that the possibility of Singapore hosting the landmark meeting had "increased greatly", after a decision by Trump to host South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House later this month, without giving further explanation.
Other possible venues
Mongolia and Switzerland are the other possible sites for meeting
Bolton met his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-Yong in Washington last week to discuss plans for both locations. Trump had previously suggested that the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, the site of a recent summit between Kim and Moon, could also be an appropriate venue for his meeting with the North's leader. Other possible sites reportedly included Mongolia and Switzerland.
Nuclear test site
North Korea offered to close nuclear test site in May
Preparations for the landmark meeting have gained momentum since the Korean summit late last month, which saw Pyongyang and Seoul promise to pursue the complete denuclearization of the peninsula and a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea has offered to close its nuclear test site this month and invited US experts to verify the move.
Information
North Korea to move its clock forward by 30 minutes
Other less dramatic but notable signs of rapprochement have emerged almost daily, including North Korea moving its clocks forward by 30 minutes early Saturday to match time with the South.