FILE - In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, prepares to shake hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in over the military demarcation line at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone. U.S. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File)
The Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Saturday President Donald Trump's offer to meet leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone is a "very interesting suggestion," brightening prospects for a third face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.
The North's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that the meeting, if realized, would serve as "another meaningful occasion in further deepening the personal relations between the two leaders and advancing the bilateral relations."
Choe still said that North Korea hasn't received an official proposal for the DMZ meeting from the United States. Her comments suggested that North Korea is willing to accept Trump's idea if it gets a formal U.S. offer for the meeting, according to some observers in Seoul.
Choe's statement was carried via the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Earlier Saturday, Trump invited Kim to shake hands during his planned visit to the DMZ, which has served as a de-facto border between the Koreas since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Trump is scheduled to fly to South Korea later Saturday for a two-day trip after attending the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Trump tweeted that "If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!"
"All I did is put out a feeler if you'd like to meet," Trump said later of the invitation, adding that he's not sure of Kim's whereabouts.
Trump and Kim have met twice since Kim entered talks with the United States early last year to deal away his advancing nuclear arsenal in return for political and economic benefits.
Their first summit in Singapore in June last year ended with Kim's promise to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But it lacked any specific timetable and roadmap. In Singapore, the two leaders also agreed to improve bilateral relations and build lasting peace on the peninsula.
They met again in Vietnam in February, but that second summit collapsed due to disputes over how much sanctions relief North Korea should win in return for dismantling its main nuclear complex - a limited denuclearization step.
Kim has since asked Trump to work out acceptable proposals to salvage the negotiations by the end of this year. U.S. officials said sanctions on North Korea would stay in place until North Korea takes firmer steps toward nuclear disarmament.
Talks of a revival of diplomacy have flared again since Kim and Trump recently exchanged personal letters. Kim called Trump's letter "excellent" while Trump described Kim's as "beautiful."
The United States and North Korea are in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American soldiers are deployed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.
In this June 12, 2019, photo, North Korean soldiers look at the South side, seen during a press tour at the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, June 29, 2019, invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit by Trump to the DMZ with South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this April 26, 2019, file photo, South Korean and U.S. Army soldiers, wearing gray uniforms, gather during a rehearsal to mark the first anniversary of a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, June 29, 2019 invited Kim to shake hands during a visit by Trump to the DMZ with South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
The Associated Press
In this June 12, 2019, photo, a South Korean soldier gestures during a press tour at the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, June 29, 2019 invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit by Trump to the DMZ with South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this June 14, 2019, file photo, hikers and journalists walk along the DMZ Peace Trail in the demilitarized zone in Goseong, South Korea. Eyeing a history-making photo opportunity, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, June 29, 2019, issued a Twitter invitation to North Korea's Kim Jong Un to join him for a hand shake during a visit by Trump to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Aug. 18, 1976, file photo, North Korean soldiers attack United Nations Command personnel wearing helmets at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (Yonhap via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, file photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korean army Col. Yun Myung-shick, right, shakes hands with North Korean army Lt. Col. Ri Jong Su before crossing the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to inspect the dismantled North Korean guard post in the central section of the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2018, file photo, smoke from an explosion rises as part of the dismantling of a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas in Cheorwon, South Korea, as a North Korean guard post sits high in the upper left. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - U.S. President George W. Bush, right, looks out at North Korea from Observation Point Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone, the tense military border between the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, Korea, on Feb. 20, 2002. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this July 11, 1993, file photo, U.S. President Bill Clinton takes the lens caps off a pair of binoculars at Camp Casey from the Ouellette guard post in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the tense military border between the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this March 25, 2012, file photo, then U.S. President Barack Obama, second left, looks through binoculars to see North Korea from Observation Post Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone, the tense military border between the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea. President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea's Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea later Saturday after meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
The Associated Press