Trump: North Korea summit back on

The historic summit with North Korea is back on, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday just minutes after meeting with Kim Jong Un’s emissary at the White House. The much-anticipated event will take place June 12 in Singapore, as originally planned. “We’re going to deal,” Trump told reporters after sitting down with Kim Yong Chol, North Korea’s former intelligence chief. Kim is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years. He first met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York but then traveled to Washington to hand-deliver a letter to Trump from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moments after the meeting, Trump claimed he hadn’t read the letter yet, but he apparently heard enough from Kim Yong Chol to voice optimism about the summit’s outcome: “I think you’re going to have a very positive result in the end. We will see what we will see.” Analysts note that despite the summit’s historic nature, it’s still not clear what North Korea will be willing to give up in negotiations for denuclearization. Intelligence agencies believe Kim Jong Un’s regime is close to having the ability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. mainland. Analysts warn the North Korean leader believes having a nuclear arsenal offers the only guarantee for his regime’s survival.