US President Donald Trump thanked Singapore’s leader Friday for hosting his upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the city-state, the White House said.

Trump and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke by phone a day after the US president announced the date and location for his historic summit with Kim.

(AFP-Yonhap)
(AFP-Yonhap)

“President Trump thanked Prime Minister Lee for his willingness to host President Trump’s June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” the White House said in a statement. “President Trump said that he looks forward to seeing Prime Minister Lee in Singapore soon.”

The Southeast Asian nation was chosen from a list of potential sites that included the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas, Mongolia, and Switzerland.

Singapore is considered a neutral venue with the necessary security and media access to make the unprecedented summit a success. (Yonhap)