U.S. media say the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom and the North Korean capital have been excluded from the list of possible venues for the Washington-Pyongyang summit.

The New York Times on Wednesday quoted a high-ranking Washington official as saying that the White House is narrowing down the list of venues for the meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

It said the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang have been dropped from the list, as they could pose an optics problem for Trump. However, the article said, holding the meeting in the U.S. would raise the same issue for Kim.

Meanwhile, broadcaster NBC said government officials revealed various locations had already been scrapped from the list, including Pyongyang, Beijing and Mongolia, due to security issues.

It said the U.S. is seeking to hold the summit in a more neutral location such as a European country, with Switzerland among the top choices.

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