Oval Office
12:06 P.M. EDT
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to have President Moon of South Korea with us. We’ve become great friends over the years. And it’s now — we’ve now known each other for quite some time.
We’re working on many things. Obviously, North Korea is the big one. No matter how big trade is, North Korea, in this case, is the big one. And we’ll be discussing that. We’ll also be discussing trade. We have a very big trade arrangement that we’re renegotiating right now with South Korea. They’ve been excellent people to work with for the Trump administration. And we will have some pretty good news, I think, on trade. And we’ll be discussing other things.
But the big topic will be Singapore and the meeting. See what happens, whether or not it happens. If it does, that will be great. It will be a great thing for North Korea. And if it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Whatever it is, it is.
But I look forward to spending quite a bit of time with the President. And I think a lot of good things will happen. I want to thank everybody for being here.
Mr. President, it’s a great honor. Thank you.
PRESIDENT MOON: (As interpreted.) Well, I’d like to thank you, Mr. President, for your warm hospitality and for sharing much of your time with me. I know you have a very busy domestic calendar, as well as the all-important U.S.-North Korea summit approaching.
I heard the tragic news that many innocent lives were lost due to the shootings in a Texas high school a few days ago. So I’d like to convey my condolences to you and the American people.
On a brighter note, I would like to congratulate you for the safe return of the American citizens who had been detained in North Korea. Thanks to your vision of achieving peace through strength, as well as your strong leadership, we’re looking forward to the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit. And we find ourselves standing one step closer to the dream of achieving complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and world peace.
All this was possible because of you, Mr. President. And I have no doubt that you will be able to complete — accomplish a historic feat that no one had been able to achieve in the decades past.
I have to say that the fate and the future of the Korean Peninsula hinge on this. And as such, I’ll spare no effort to the end to support the success of the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit, and stand with you all along the way, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.
Q Mr. President, do you think President Kim is serious about denuclearization?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do think he’s serious. I think he would like to see that happen. At the same time, he’s going into a future that’s different from what they’ve had. But I think he’s absolutely very serious. Yes.
Q Do you think the summit is going to happen?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: One second. Go ahead. Go ahead, John.
Q Can you give us an update, sir, just on where things stand with the summit? President Moon’s national security advisor, on the way here, seemed to think that things are on track and that this will indeed happen.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re moving along. And we’ll see what happens. There are certain conditions that we want, and I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we don’t have the meeting. And frankly, it has a chance to be a great, great meeting for North Korea and a great meeting for the world. If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later. Maybe it will happen at a different time. But we will see.
But we are talking. The meeting is scheduled, as you know, on June 12th in Singapore. And whether or not it happens, you’ll be knowing pretty soon. But we’re talking right now.
Q Do you have an idea of how denuclearization would take place? Would it be all at once?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do. I have a very strong idea how it takes place. And it must take place. That’s what we’re talking about. It must take place.
But I have a very strong idea, and I have very strong opinions on the subject. I also have very strong opinions that North Korea has a chance to be a great country, and it can’t be a great country under the circumstances that they’re living right now. But North Korea has a chance, really, to be a great country. And I think they should seize the opportunity. And we’ll soon find out whether or not they want to do that.
Yes.
Q Mr. President, have you spoken to Kim Jong-un?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t want to say that. I don’t want —
Q Do you trust Kim Jong-un, going into these meetings?