President Trump is one step closer to accomplishing something that hasn't been done since the days of Dwight D. Eisenhower: negotiating with the leader of North Korea.
On Saturday, a senior North Korean diplomat told South Korea's Yonhap News that Kim Jong Un may be willing to sit down with Donald Trump under the right conditions.
"We’ll have dialogue if the conditions are there,” said Choe Son Hu, who is in charge of U.S. affairs for the North Korean foreign ministry. Choe made this revelation as he returned to Pyongyang from Norway, where Track 1.5 discussions have just concluded.
The term "Track 1.5" is used by diplomats to define a situation where official and non-official spokespersons of two opposing powers cooperate in conflict resolution.
Choe Son Hu did not specify what conditions would be necessary for the North Korean leader to meet with President Trump.
Trump stands on the threshold of diplomatic greatness
President Trump raised eyebrows earlier this month when he told Bloomberg News that he would be open to sitting down with Kim Jong Un.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” said Trump during the May 1 Oval Office interview.
Trump's willingness to meet with the North Korean dictator has elicited mixed reactions from Democrats and well as some Republicans, even though the president's comments drew praise from several high-ranking foreign diplomats.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang applauded Trump's willingness to sit down with Kim Jong Un, stating that such talks would be the best way to resolve tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
South Korea wants a seat at the table
The Daily Caller reports that Moon Jae-in, the newly-elected president of South Korea, is also open to negotiations with North Korea.
"I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula," Moon stated on Wednesday. "If needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo." He also said he would be willing to go to Pyongyang "if the conditions shape up."
Although the fighting between North and South Korea ended with an armistice signed in 1953, the war has never technically ended, as no peace treaty has ever been signed. If Donald Trump should succeed in bringing the 67-year-old conflict to a conclusion, it would be one of the most important and momentous diplomatic achievements in American history.
