The U.S. State Department says the latest encounter between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border was a meeting, not a summit.

Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Tuesday during a press briefing that the face-to-face wasn't a summit or a negotiation, but was instead a meeting between the two leaders.

She added it was a “special and historic day for many people around the world.”

Trump and Kim met for a little under an hour at the demilitarized zone on June 30, raising questions about whether it was effectively their third summit.

As the State Department considers it not to be, the next face-to-face between the two leaders, if and when it happens, may be their third official summit.

[Photo : YONHAP News]