Trump says Koreas have his 'blessing' to end war

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump said Tuesday that North and South Korea have his "blessing" to negotiate an end to their decades-long war.

"They do have my blessing to discuss the end to the war," Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago resort where he was welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The allies are expected to address a host of bilateral and regional issues, including the North and South's ongoing detente and a looming meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that was originally slated for May.

But Trump said the meeting will now "probably" take place in early June or "a little before that".

"Hopefully that will be a success. Maybe it will be and maybe it won't be. We don't know. But we'll see what happens," Trump said.

Trump confirmed American and North Korean officials have been engaged in direct talks "at extremely high levels" even though the countries lack formal diplomatic relations. Five locations are currently being considered for the historic bilateral meeting, Trump said, but confirmed none are in the U.S.

If it transpires, the sit-down will be the first between a sitting U.S. president and his North Korean counterpart.

Hostilities in the Korean war, which began in 1950, ended three years later with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty between the principal belligerents, meaning the war technically never ended.

The North and South are reporting mulling an official end to the conflict and could make an announcement during a joint summit planned for next week.

The local Munhwa Ilbo newspaper reported the development, citing an anonymous South Korean official.

Addressing the warming ties between the North and South, Trump said the countries "wouldn't be discussing anything" without him.