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President Trump, Kim Jong Un to meet one-on-one during summit

Posted at 8:46 AM, Feb 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-21 10:46:33-05

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet one-on-one at the start of their summit next week in Hanoi, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

The initial session will be followed by a meal and expanded talks with each country's delegation.

"President Trump is looking to, after really in some respects breaking the ice in June, to talk in more depth about the kind of future North Korea could enjoy if it follows through on its commitment to final and full denuclearization," a senior administration official said.

Trump is hoping to advance four priorities in his summit meeting with Kim next week in Hanoi, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

The priorities include: transforming relations between the US and North Korea; establishing a peace regime on the Korean peninsula; the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula; and the return of killed-in-action and missing-in-action Americans from the Korean War.

Senior US officials are in Hanoi now negotiating with a North Korean delegation ahead of the summit.

"Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to," one official said. "We will be closely engaged with the North Korean delegation right up until the President arrives for the summit next week."

A withdrawal of US troops from South Korea is not under consideration ahead of Trump's summit next week with Kim, a senior administration official says.

The matter "is not the subject of discussions" with the North Koreans, the official said.

A second official said a troop withdrawal "is not really an operative subject right now."

The-CNN-Wire
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