US, South Korean presidents likely to meet before Trump-Kim summit

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/25/2018, 7:58 a.m.
US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, will likely hold their own summit ahead of Trump's …
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un

By Yoonjung Seo and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

(CNN) -- US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, will likely hold their own summit ahead of Trump's historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

A senior official in Moon's administration told CNN the meeting is likely to take place in Washington DC, where Moon would brief Trump on the results of this week's inter-Korean summit.

Moon and Kim are meeting face-to-face Friday in the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas. It will be the first time leaders from the two countries speak in person in more than a decade.

South Korea's top national security officer, Chung Eui-yong, raised the possibility of a Trump-Moon summit during a meeting with US National Security Adviser John Bolton in Washington Tuesday, according to South Korean President's secretary for public relations, Yoon Young-chan.

Yoon said Chung called his meeting with Bolton "very substantial and beneficial."

"The two countries have agreed to consult after the inter-Korean summit for the success of the North Korea-US summit," Chung said, according to Yoon.

Details about Friday's meeting have been slowly trickling out from the Blue House, South Korea's presidential office.

Moon's administration revealed Tuesday the symbolic dishes being served to the two leaders for dinner.

Guests will be served food from the Korean Peninsula's far north and south, including cold noodles, dumplings and barbequed beef. There will even be food sourced from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two countries.

On Wednesday, Seoul released pictures of the room where Kim and Moon will meet in the Peace House, in the DMZ between the two countries.

South Korea redecorated the room especially for the historic occasion, with attention paid to the symbolism of the smallest details.

South Korea says it chose a rounded table to reduce the physical distance between the two sides and allow people to talk candidly. The diameter of the oval-shaped table where Moon and Kim will sit face-to-face is 2018mm to mark the year of the summit.

The room will also feature a painting of Mt. Kumgang, a mountain in North Korea that once once open to South Koreans but was closed to them in 2008. The artwork is meant to symbolize reconciliation and cooperation between Pyongyang and Washington, the Moon administration said.

The walls are meant to evoke the feeling of being inside a Hanok, a traditional Korean house, while the blue carpet is meant to capture the "beautiful and healthy spirit of the nature of the Peninsula."