well away from. he seems to not stay well away from. he seems to not have very high standards in terms of who he would like to meet with, so thatis who he would like to meet with, so that is kind of a different situation. so i guess in all this chaos that we live with every day in washington and elsewhere, maybe it has borne some fruit with respect of this chaotic country of called north korea. cani can i pursue on the options that other us presidents would not have gone for? for weeks on and there was a discussion of somehow taking... doing what was a bloody nose, some kind of demonstration attack on north korea by which the us would kind of come after some target, just to show there is a more where that came from. i think most or all of

previous administrations would have been concerned about that because first of all you would have to tell your allies, the south koreans, that your allies, the south koreans, that you are planning to do that and the south koreans would not so gently find out that the 20 million within range of north korean at uri would suggest they better get those people to safety and sat it becomes a bit ofa to safety and sat it becomes a bit of a nonstarter but one had the sense that president trump was prepared to give it a go and this kind of thing is a very, very different kind of president. most people are not comfortable with that but there are people who are. people are not comfortable with that but there are people who arem 2009, north korean is pulled out of the talks. we talk about caution here but is that possible seeing we are at this stage and having these conversations. could it go wrong ain? conversations. could it go wrong again? absolutely. if i was las

vegas, aura london odds maker, i would still have it on that side of the ledger. even a brutal dictatorships have politics and a lot of people in north korea think this nuclear programme is an excellent thing or north korea to be pursuing so if he's really intending to get rid of nuclear weapons, a lot of things can go badly. what went badly for us was the fact that we we re badly for us was the fact that we were not able to get a verification regime worthy of the name and weibo we had people back in washington who hated the thing to start with.|j see, washington has changed and has been more open. when it comes to whereabouts, a meeting around may.

the idea of donald trump going to be on hand does not seem feasible. the idea of donald trump going to be on hand does not seem feasiblelj would on hand does not seem feasible.” would not start with pyongyang, that's the short. probably some neutral ground. i would suggest some kind of neutral ground and we would have to figure out where that might be but in the past we have had people meet on ships, that might be possible but not pyongyang or washington. what about china? i suspect the north koreans would not like that. that would not be on top of their list. you were talking about just being careful and of their list. you were talking aboutjust being careful and being cautious and possibly putting some conditions on these negotiations, what is the main condition that you would absolutely adamantly want north korea to adhere to? we have

adhered to as step—by—step process andi adhered to as step—by—step process and i would like to lay out what those steps would be and the denuclearisation of north korea would want to make sure those steps are greeted this is where we are going and then at what point in this journey there might be a meeting but i would want to be very clear about what that final step is. the notion that somehow we have to get to know each other and take it from there is not enough for an american president. absolutely fascinating to speak to you. thank you so, so much. let's go back to the announcement made by the south korean envoy. good evening. today i had the privilege of meeting president trump on my

recent visit to pyongyang in north korea. i would like to thank president trump, the vice president and his wonderful national security team, including my close friend general masters. his leadership and his direction on pressure politics together with international solidarity brought us to this juncture. i expressed president moon jae—in‘s personal gratitude to president trump ‘s leadership. i told president trump that in our meeting, both korean leaders, kim jong—un said he is committed to denuclearisation. he pledged that north korea would refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. he understands that routine joint military exercises between the

republic of korea and the united states must continue. and he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. president trump as soon as possible. president trump as soon as possible. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong—un by may, to achieve in utero session by the republic of korea along with the united states, japan and our many other partners around the world remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearisation of the korean eyre peninsula along with president trump we are optimistic about continuing diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution. the republic of korea, the united states, and our partners, stand together in insisting that we

did not repeat the mistakes of the past and that the pressure will continue until north korea matches its words with concrete actions. thank you. fresh insights now on this unfolding development. we are joined by the director of the korea working group at the harvard kennedy school. from cambridge massachusetts. he also advises us state officials. thank you for joining us. a former us diplomat, christopher hill, who describe this development as extra extraordinary. what makes you think that kim jong—un will be new to rise and meet with president trump? this is all positive in the sense that it is clearly better to talk to them increasing tension but this is a

commitment to dig you can arise and we are not seeing the science —— denuclearise denuclearise. a lot of things do not add up at this stage and we will find out more. this initial announcement, we are seeing senior and the gun and white house officials and other branches are surprised —— at the pentagon. officials and other branches are surprised -- at the pentagon. why did north korea choose the month of being and, of course, president trump will surely not go to pyongyang. when we spoke to mr hill, he said definitely not pyongyang but ina he said definitely not pyongyang but in a neutral area. where do you think that should be? in the past the south koreans have posted historic diplomatic meetings on an

island off the southern tip of the korean eyre peninsula. it is formally labelled as the island of peace and this is the ideal setting of this meeting if it were to happen but there are many details that need to be worked out. it is still a bumpy and hard road, even may which is frankly around the corner. something could still go wrong? what could that potentially be. for the meeting takes place, the us and south korea have military exercises in april. could this military exercise jeopardise that meeting? well, so far, what we know of the north korean commitments and state m e nts north korean commitments and statements are all through the south koreans at this stage. kim jong—un kim jong—un reportedly said he's a k with the military exercise in april

but events after that, a number of details, the meeting between two leaders, a lot of the details as you are in the amount could present other challenges and difficulties. there are a lot of things we need to get through. this is a very extraordinary event, no one expected it. the missile testing and launches of last year... what do you think really happened inside pyongyang and the kim jong—un leadership? really happened inside pyongyang and the kimjong—un leadership? why did they buckle up and give in? are the sanctions starting to have an impact on the economy? the two dominant theories out there. one that sanctions are biting and that pressure is working and north korea coming to the negotiating table is a

sign of that. another interpretation is that in making their final preparations for the nuclear arsenals was going to paul's anyway and so why not bring this and sell this. what are they gaining these? this overall transaction? whinny 2—piece those together. this overall transaction? whinny 2-piece those together. we just have some breaking news from the white house and president donald trump has accepted, formally accepted kim jong—un's invitation to a meeting but, of course, there have been no specific if indeed he will go to pyongyang for this meeting. how significant is that these? —— this. it is extraordinary. but you have a promise in return for this commitment to denuclearisation. you

have this leader to leader meeting with a sitting us president. it is truly unprecedented but in terms said the conditions and terms for denuclearisation to happen we will see what is sufficient in keeping this process and this meeting possible. right now, a lot of officials and experts watching this are scratching our heads because it is definitely out of the ordinary. everybody is scratching their heads that this has indeed happen. the first us president meeting with north korean leader. what you think happen in terms of dactyl negotiations regarding south korea and north korea? —— back door negotiations. sanctions against

north korea could be lifted before the meeting, for example? there was a 6—point agreement that came out at the meeting. we have not seen any confirmation by the north korean side as of yet but right now, with the agreement made in pyongyang, there was a piece that was reported that there was a secret message from kim jong—un that there was a secret message from kimjong—un kim that there was a secret message from kim jong—un kim two that there was a secret message from kimjong—un kim two president trump. we are going to be piecing together the news reports and other revelations coming out from various meetings but at this stage, to create this kind of momentum, there are question marks about whether we will get to denuclearisation. this isa will get to denuclearisation. this is a commitment and it is a very long process and unlikely to get done by may as well. what are the proxies? what are the equivalent

measures? all these things will need to be worked out. a lot of developments coming out from the white house. earlier we mentioned that president donald trump has formally excepted an invitation from the north korean leader, kimjong—un i the north korean leader, kimjong—un ,to the north korean leader, kimjong—un , to meet it still no announcement of where they will be meeting and the white house has made an announcement that all sanctions against north korea remain in place. despite north korea's commitment to did nuke —— de in denuclearise denuclearise. indeed, the meeting with kim jong—un kim denuclearise. indeed, the meeting with kimjong—un kim is extraordinary. indeed, we are

definitely now in uncharted territory? if you were to start to think what could be a part of this basis of building trust and working towards denuclearise, there was a process called nuclear disablement. if there is a designation of a facility and they dismantle that, that could be the visual image of the work and the long road there is but the beginning of the actual visible destruction for the agreement of denuclearisation. to the to keep talking about the

night had slipped and south korea. to the to keep talking about the night had slipped a in south korea. to the to keep talking about the night had slipped a in this :h korea. with a do you think in this potential meeting on the commitment north korea to de— nuclearised? potential meeting on the commitment north korea to de- nuclearised? so the role of china was well—documented last year. north korea said it would commit to freezing its nuclear and missile testing, and in return, the united states and south korea would freeze their military exercises. -- denuclearise of. —— denuclearise. the ongoing dialogue, the chinese are very supportive of, so the notion of denuclearisation, the early stages the diplomatic process, all of these were very supported by the chinese side. thank you so much for joining the chinese side. thank you so much forjoining us. as wejust mentioned

a few minutes ago, president donald trump has formally accepted the invitation of north korean leader kimjong invitation of north korean leader kim jong want to meet, invitation of north korean leader kimjong want to meet, and invitation of north korean leader kim jong want to meet, and secondly, the white house has also made an announcement that all the sanctions against north korea remain. yes, let's pick up on some of those points because sarah sanders, the white house spokesperson said that the president greatly appreciate the nice words of the south korean delegation. let's cross back to our correspondence. you delegation. let's cross back to our correspondence. you were delegation. let's cross back to our correspondence. you were the white house corresponded just recently, you will appreciate the comments of donald trump recently on how he appreciates the nice words. he would be potentially the first sitting us president to meet someone from north korea. this is history in the making. it is history in the making but i think one of the things we do need to know is put a foot on the break a little bit. as we have heard from some of the analysts, i am glad i'm not the only one sitting,

scratching my head, because this is happening so fast that the details have to be talked through. remember, kim jong—un has been a have to be talked through. remember, kimjong—un has been a master propaganda here. when it came to the winter olympics, he sent cheerleaders, he sent what some people call the army of duties to ta ke people call the army of duties to take part in the games and some winter concerts. they were seen here in seoul, they were plastered all over the television, he knows what makes good pr and here is already, he says he is prepared to talk about denuclearisation that there has been no commitment yet by north korea to actually get rid of those nuclear weapons. so although having said he will talk about it, he's not actually saying that i will denuclearise, which many people here in seoul want to see and certainly the us has said they will not deal with the north korea with nuclear weapons. when it comes to the fundamental issue of those nuclear weapons, they are not gone yet. and

the idea that they are making this huge overture to the united states. kim jong—un knows how this will go down on american networks and president trump, who has been king of reality television. when it comes toa of reality television. when it comes to a propaganda war, kimjong—un has scored quite picky when it comes to this invitation. president trump also gets if you like win it too. he will believe that it is his policy of maximum pressure forcing the administration to come down quite ha rd administration to come down quite hard on pyongyang that has brought them to the table. i think when you see the diplomacy that is going around and propaganda, certainly on the north korean and the us side, i think it is a win all round and however, i am think it is a win all round and however, iam putting think it is a win all round and however, i am putting the brakes on

with caution. until we see an end to those nuclear weapons, there is no wind when it comes to north korea because that is the endgame here and thatis because that is the endgame here and that is a long way off. it is really good to have that cautious voice but when it comes to giving signs and signals, north korea has said that it would still, it would accept or at least have those military exercises that continue between the us and south korea, those military exercises that have infuriated them in the past, they will accept that these continue. so, there are some big investors going on here. you're right. we have seen an operation, which is this hugejoint military exercise between south korea and the us which is due to start march 31 or the first week of april. we saw when those exercises began in the past, they have inflamed north korea so much that it has prompted a missile

test or some other testing, so many a nalysts test or some other testing, so many analysts i spoke to before all these announcements were saying as soon as those exercises restart, we will return to this frees that we have been seeing for the last few years. now we have a reassurance from pyongyang that they understand that those exercises will take place. —— freeze. and as long as they have this guarantee of talks, they will not carry out any further missile test. i think we have to go back to what is north korea getting out of this, it may well be as one of your a nalysts this, it may well be as one of your analysts have just mentioned that there is going to be missile testing anyway. it may also be that these international sanctions are turning the screws so much that pyongyang is trying to act quickly, or it could be that they want something in return. now a member, be that they want something in return. nowa member, kimjong—un wants to be treated like an equal, he wants his face on the international stage and it may well be now that he has had this

treatment, or the stick, be now that he has had this treatment, orthe stick, he be now that he has had this treatment, or the stick, he wants the carrot dangling before him, and we do not know exactly what that carrot will consist of. is it going to be global talks? is it going to be global trade? these are things that we do not yet know. when it comes to what is enticing kim jong—un, i think that is one of the key questions that we are waiting to hear answered. and on a tantalising note, we will leave it there. don't go away because we will come back for much more analysis. let's go to bruce bennett, defence analyst with the rand corporation, joining his life in washington. let's put some of these questions to you, what is happening here? is north korea playing the united states? what is your reading of all this? well, we have to worry about north korea playing the united states. after all, what we've heard so by his words and are cheap stop what we need to see is some clear indication

that north korea really is preparing to de— nuclearised —— denuclearise. i would propose the north korea surrender four or five nuclear weapons to the international community, recognising that if they did that and they really did work, the un would say they were a nuclear capable country, which would be good for the north but it would also be good for us if they got rid of those. something tangible needs to be done to show that this is all real and not just a be done to show that this is all real and notjust a game. when we talk about something like that, this possible meeting that donald trump has accepted, by may in theory, and what you suggest, that kind of tangible action giving up a number of nuclear weapons, and that happen that quickly? arejust of nuclear weapons, and that happen that quickly? are just talking about a matter of months is. i think you could turn over five nuclear weapons ina could turn over five nuclear weapons in a matter of a week or two. maybe even shorter. it is a matter of how

committed kim jong—un is to even shorter. it is a matter of how committed kimjong—un is to really changing the environment, or is he just doing this to eventually be able to blame south korea and the united states. i mean, if you are talking about may, that is still potentially a week or two or three after his planned meeting with president moonjae—in, so this is a sequence of meetings he is planning with the two countries, us and south should be working very closely together to get the right kind of tangible results from the kim jong—un. tangible results from the kim jong-un. now obviously, there is a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes. to get to this stage, to get to the white house saying that donald trump will accept this kind of meeting, do you think that when you talk about the commitments, what more can be done, apart from nuclear weapons, apart from the possibility of handing over those four or five missiles? well, there are americans

being held in pyongyang, they could being held in pyongyang, they could be turned back over. north korea has issues we could deal with on the human rights issue, i do not know that we will make any serious progress there. we could have discussions on the nature of the exercises on both side and do like was done towards the end of the cold war in having monitors in opposing sides exercises. pyongyang hasjust completed three months of training exercises, or they are just completing them. there are no monitors there and there are not going to be at this stage any north korean monitors at the us, south korean monitors at the us, south korean exercises, during some kind of cooperative threat reduction that is tangible, that is a big step beyond where we are tonight. so will north korea —— so do you think that by winning them, do you think realistically that they would except

monitors back in? well, the monitors that they got rid of at that stage we re that they got rid of at that stage were at the nuclear plants. i am talking about with regard to military exercises, so more than just controlling nuclear weapons but yes, the nuclear weapons are something you are going to want to monitor, and you are going to want something more than just monitoring at the sites they have declared. there are undoubtably north koreans sites that are hidden and where we would want challenge inspections, so the key issue at this stage is what is the set of issues when president trump meets with kim jong—un that need to be put on the table before they meet, so that when they meet he can make some progress towards tangible movement towards perhaps a peace treaty or some other kind of acceptable, real reduction intentions? fascinating, absolutely fascinating. thank you so much.

you're welcome. and chris rejoins is now from washington, and president trumpjust now from washington, and president trump just about ten to 15 minutes ago has accepted the invitation by north korean leader kim jong warned. of course, the place and time to be determined. do you think mr trump is willing to go to north korea? yeah, ido willing to go to north korea? yeah, i do not think will take place in north korea. i would probably stake money on that, i am not betting man but at the same time, you just never know what is going to happen given the announcement that we have had this evening. i think what you are seeing as though is a remarkable step forward in terms of relationships and just to give you an idea of how remarkable, it is worth just reflecting on what the secretary of state rex tillerson said only a matter of hours ago. within the last 2a hours, he responded to questions about north korea and whether they could

potentially be negotiations, he said goa potentially be negotiations, he said go a long way from negotiations. in of direct talks with the us, we are a long way from negotiations, yet all of a sudden we have the president of the united states and the leader of north korea meeting potentially by may. that is a remarkable change and gives you an idea ofjust how fast remarkable change and gives you an idea of just how fast all of this has happened. now, saying that, there was that message that came during the announcement, that came from the south korean delegation just outside the white house, that they said that they want to match they said that they want to match the words with concrete action. there is still the potential for this to be undone but at the same time, there is this feeling that things are moving forward, that the white house is engaging. certainly, if you look at the statement that has come from the white house this evening, you get an idea that they very much are appreciative of the way the south korean delegation

brought this forward, saying that they felt that president trump had been key to doing some of those relationships, the movie north korea toa relationships, the movie north korea to a place for they have negotiations and that, of course, is all about sanctions, which have frustrated their nuclear programme anyway. but, in that statement in the white house, they also say that all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain. basically, the sanctions have to stay in place, the pressure on north korea has to stay in place, and that is key amongst all of this. there may well be this meeting that takes place between president trump and kim jong—un but at the same time, you have also got to remember that this pressure to try to ensure that it denuclearise is not just try to ensure that it denuclearise is notjust going to be accepted in words that come from north korea, they want to try to ensure that it actually happens. thank you so much for that update. soulmate

this is newsday on bbc world news. this is a special edition. we have correspondence reporters in soulmate and washington. president trump has agreed to hold an historic meeting with the north korean leader, kim jong—un, may. meeting with the north korean leader, kimjong—un, may. let us listen to the announcement. good evening. today i had the privilege of briefing president trump on my recent visit to pyongyang, north korea. i would like to thank president trump, the vice president and his wonderful national security team, including my close friend, general mcmaster. i explained to president trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity brought us to this juncture.