A former British ambassador to North Korea, John Everard, told the BBC<\/a>there must be a suspicion that Mr Kim might be trying to play Mr Trump to try to “get him to say across the table things that North Korea has been asking for for a long time”.<\/p>\n These could include a peace treaty to finally end the Korean War and a promise that if North Korea denuclearised then the US would finally withdraw its troops from South Korea.<\/p>\n The US has tens of thousands of military personnel there and the massive annual joint war games infuriate the North because it believes they are preparation for invasion.<\/p>\n The reaction has been positive, if cautious among some:<\/p>\n No sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader, but there have been repeated attempts to get North Korea to denuclearise.<\/p>\n The last major effort – the Six Party talks – collapsed in 2008, largely because North Korea refused to allow inspectors to verify that it had shut down its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n A number of bids to restart the talks after that also collapsed.<\/p>\n\n
What have the other players said?<\/h2>\n
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Have talks like this happened in the past?<\/h2>\n
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China has welcomed the development, saying the Korean peninsula issue was “heading in the right direction” and calling for “political courage”.<\/p>\n
What’s the latest from the US?<\/h2>\n
Mr Tillerson spoke about the developments while in Djibouti on an African trip.<\/p>\n
He said of Kim Jong-un: “What changed was his posture in a fairly dramatic way.<\/p>\n
“In all honesty, that came as a little bit of a surprise to us, as well that he was so forward-leaning in his conversations with the delegation from South Korea.”<\/p>\n
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- The strange optics of the North Korea announcement<\/a><\/li>\n
- The South Korean envoys behind a diplomatic breakthrough<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In recent months, Mr Trump has belittled Mr Kim as the “rocket man”, threatening him with “fire and fury<\/a>“, while Mr Kim has called Mr Trump “a mentally deranged US dotard”.<\/p>\n
Mr Tillerson said Mr Trump had been open to talks “when the time was right”, adding: “In the president’s judgment, that time has arrived now.”<\/p>\n
The secretary of state also drew a line between what constituted “talks” and “negotiations”, although he did not specify the difference.<\/p>\n
Just a day earlier, he had said the US was “a long way” from negotiations with the North, leading some commentators to suggest Mr Tillerson was out of the loop.<\/p>\n
But Mr Tillerson said he had had a “very good conversation” with the president early on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
![\"Presentational](\"https:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/media\/images\/75306000\/jpg\/_75306515_line976.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\nMoon’s huge gamble<\/h2>\n
Analysis by BBC’s Laura Bicker in Seoul<\/strong><\/p>\n
President Moon Jae-in has acknowledged there are obstacles ahead. He is managing expectations and so much can go wrong.<\/p>\n
His approval ratings took a hit during the Winter Olympics after he integrated the women’s hockey team with players from the North and met a general from Pyongyang who had been accused of masterminding deadly attacks on South Koreans, though they have since rebounded.<\/p>\n
These talks are a huge gamble with a communist state which is hard to read.<\/p>\n
But if, just if, he helps pull it off, it may reduce the threat of nuclear war and he could win himself a Nobel Peace prize.<\/p>\n
If all fails, it is back to brinkmanship.<\/p>\n
Read Laura’s piece in full<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/figure>\nHow did we reach this point?<\/h2>\n
The South Korean envoys met Mr Kim in Pyongyang this week<\/a>. It was the culmination of a rapprochement that began at the New Year and led to the Koreas marching together at the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
The envoys then travelled to Washington to brief Mr Trump.<\/p>\n
Speaking outside the White House after the meeting, South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong said that:<\/p>\n
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- Mr Kim was prepared to sit down with the US president<\/li>\n
- North Korea was “committed to denuclearisation”<\/li>\n
- It would halt all nuclear and missile tests<\/li>\n
- It understood that US-South Korean military drills “must continue”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- The South Korean envoys behind a diplomatic breakthrough<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n