Donald Trump has revealed his preferred location for a anticipated summit with Kim Jong-un would be the so-called Freedom House set in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.

The president said last week he had narrowed the site for the meeting to just two or three locations. Reports over the weekend, suggested those were Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, and Singapore.

But in a tweet on Monday morning, Mr Trump said he would be minded to hold the meeting at the Peace House on the border of North and South Korea, the same place where Mr Kim made history last week when he met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, shaking hands and laughing, before holding private talks that resulted in a joint declaration from the two countries.

Donald Trump says he 'believes' North Korea leader Kim Jong Un about peace talks

“Numerous countries are being considered for the MEETING, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the Border of North & South Korea, be a more Representative, Important and Lasting site than a third party country,” he wrote. ”Just asking!”

In the aftermath of last Friday’s summit during which the 36-year-old became the first North Korean leader to travel south of the border between the two countries, Mr Trump praised the meeting and said he was looking forward to his own.

“I don’t think he’s playing,” Mr Trump said of Mr Kim, speaking to reporters at the beginning of a meeting in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We will, I think, come up with a solution and if we don’t we leave the room with great respect and we just keep it going.”

He added: “A lot of very positive things happened over the last 24 hours. We’ll be setting up a meeting very shortly. We have it broken down to probably two sites now, two or three sites, locations. And hopefully we’re going to have great success.”

In an interview broadcast over the weekend, the newly confirmed secretary of state Mike Pompeo, said he told Mr Kim he would have to take “irreversible” steps towards shutting his nuclear weapons programme for their to be any deal with Mr Trump. He also said he believed there is “a real opportunity” to strike such a deal.

Mr Pompeo met secretly with the North Korean leader over Easter in order to prepare the ground for anticipated talks with Mr Trump in May. The meeting was highest level between the two countries since 2000, when then secretary of state Madeleine Albright met Kim Jong-il, Mr Kim’s father, and was the meeting of Mr Kim and any US official.

North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Show all 20 1 /20 North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border People have their picture taken with North Korea in the background, in Tumen, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A North Korean woman is photographed from the Chinese side of the Yalu River near the town of Changbai, China as she walks between houses in the North Korean town of Hyesan. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean souvenirs are displayed for sale on the banks of the Yalu River in Dandong in Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. Reuters North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A large screen, which faces North Korea, broadcasts propaganda videos on an island on the Yalu River between North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A piece of clothing is used to make a gap in barbed wire near the closed bridge over the Yalu River on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea between towns of Ji'an and Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea showed places where it is porous. Reuters North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A tourist uses binoculars to look across to North Korea from a tower built on the Chinese side of the border between Russia (L), China (C) and North Korea (R) near the town of Hunchun in China. Reuters North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women participate in a group dance exercise close to the Yalu River which runs between China and North Korea, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A sign reading, "Take the initiative to preserve order along the border," stands in a field at the border between China and North Korea just outside Dandong, Liaoning province, China. Reuters North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A couple prepare for a wedding photography session on a boat which takes tourists on sightseeing tours from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Tourists travel on a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women walk across a bridge from an island on the Yalu River, dividing North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A North Korean soldier and locals are photographed from the Chinese side of the border north of Dandong, China as they stand on the banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju, North Korea. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean girls are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they collect water from the frozen Yalu River near Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A man looks through binoculars towards North Korea on the Broken Bridge over the Yalu River that connects the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean fishermen are seen as a Chinese flag flutters from the Broken Bridge as the sun sets over the Yalu River between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand in the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women, photographed from the Chinese side of the border, are seen through binoculars fixed on a building on the Chinese side of the border for sightseers to look across to North Korea, as they cross the bridge from Namyang in North Korea towards the town of Tumen in China, Reuters

Mr Pompeo said Washington was not simply going to take Mr Kim at his word.

“We use the word ‘irreversible’ with great intention,” Mr Pompeo told ABC News. “We are going to require those steps that demonstrate that denuclearisation is going to be achieved.”

He said his visit to North Korea had been intended to see if there was an opportunity for an historic shift in relations with the nuclear-armed national after decades of hostility.

He said he believed there was a “a real opportunity” for the North Korean leader and Mr Trump to strike a deal.

Over the weekend, South Korea said that North Korea’s main nuclear testing site – Punggye-ri – is to going to be closed as early as the beginning of May.

Presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said that Mr Kim had said he “would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May”.