Washington: Preparations for a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are going well, and the two are tentatively scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Singapore time on June 12, the White House said on Monday.
The announcement of the timing for the first meeting between the two leaders came just three days after Trump hosted a senior North Korean delegation at the White House bearing a letter from Kim. Trump, who had previously cancelled the summit, abruptly announced the meeting was back on.
Asked about the contents of Kim`s letter, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to "get into the specifics of the letter" but added "we feel like things are continuing to move forward and good progress has been made."
"I can tell you the president has been receiving daily briefings on North Korea from his national security team," she added. "And I can also tell you the schedule tentatively for that first meeting will be on June 12 at 9 a.m. Singapore time (June 11 at 9 p.m. EDT)."
Asked whether the US maximum-pressure campaign against North Korea would continue, Sanders said U.S. policy had not changed and Washington continued to maintain tough sanctions on Pyongyang.
"We have sanctions on, they are very powerful and we would not take those sanctions off unless North Korea denuclearized," Sanders said.
Trump said last week he no longer wanted to use the phrase "maximum pressure" to describe the campaign because North Korea was being more cooperative, even though the United States is keeping current sanctions in place.
