Trump: ‘I always believe in talking’

US president willing to take phone call from North Korean leader

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would be willing to speak directly with Kim Jong-un, voicing hope that rare talks between North and South Korea could help de-escalate the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear drive.

Trump’s remarks were a further pivot from his often-bellicose rhetoric on North Korea and Kim, with whom he has engaged in a war of words that raised fears of nuclear war as Pyongyang carried out missile and nuclear tests.

“I always believe in talking,” Trump said at the Camp David presidential retreat when asked if he would speak to Kim by phone.

“Absolutely I would do that, no problem with that at all,” Trump said, while making clear this did not mean he would do so without preconditions.

North and South Korea have agreed to hold their first official talks in more than two years, and Trump expressed hopes that they would go beyond discussions of Pyongyang’s participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics in the South, which a North Korean Olympic official said Saturday was “likely.”

“I would love to see them take it beyond the Olympics,” Trump said. “And at the appropriate time, we’ll get involved.”

He added that if something could come out of the talks, “that would be a great thing for all of humanity.”

Kim said in a New Year speech that his country wished success for the Olympics, to be held from February 9-25, and would consider sending a delegation – remarks that set off a tentative rapprochement after weeks of tensions.

The North and South agreed to the talks on Friday, and Seoul has proposed sending a five-member delegation led by a government minister to talks in the village of Panmunjom on Tuesday, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul.

Trump, who has jumped between taking a provocative approach towards North Korea and calling for a peaceful resolution, on Saturday took credit for paving the way for the talks.

“If I weren’t involved, they wouldn’t be talking about the Olympics right now, they’d be doing no talking,” he said.

“For 25 years they (South Korea) haven’t been using a tough stance. They’ve been giving everything.”

Also in recent days, the US and South Korea agreed to delay their joint military exercises until after the Games, apparently to help ease nerves.