Trump says Kim will not want to ‘disappoint me’
>>SEOUL: US President Donald Trump downplayed on Friday North Korea’s missile tests, saying that while they may violate a UN resolution, Kim Jong-un will not want to “disappoint” him because he has “too much to lose”.
Underlining his intense personal support for the North Korean leader, Mr Trump fired off three tweets brushing aside the short-range missile launches.
“There may be a United Nations violation, but Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust, there is far too much for North Korea to gain,” Mr Trump said.
“Also, there is far too much to lose,” he continued. “I may be wrong, but I believe that (Chairman) Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true.”
Nuclear-armed North Korea is barred from ballistic missile tests under UN resolutions. Its recent short-range missile tests have been condemned by European members of the UN Security Council.
Hours later, Pyongyang said it never has, and never will recognise the Security Council’s resolutions.
North Korea is angry at the Council “slandering” its development of conventional weapons “while turning blind eyes to the war exercises in South Korea and shipment of attack weapons into it”, read a foreign ministry statement carried by state news wire KCNA.
US-South Korean military exercises due to start this week have angered Pyongyang, and analysts say the launches are intended to increase pressure on Washington.
North Korea has signalled that further denuclearisation talks could be derailed by the refusal to scrap the annual manoeuvres, describing last week’s launch as a “solemn warning to the South Korean warmongers”.
KCNA also said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test firing of the country’s new “large-calibre” multiple-launch guided rocket system” early on Friday — apparently a reference to the missile launches on the same day.
Mr Kim “expressed great satisfaction” over the results, KCNA said.
Meanwhile yesterday, the KCNA added that Mr Kim had supervised another test-firing of a multiple rocket launcher system that could potentially enhance the country’s ability to strike targets in South Korea and US military bases there.
Mr Trump, however, dismissed the missile tests, calling them “very standard”, and suggesting via Twitter that his personal touch would persuade Mr Kim to reverse the regime’s push for a nuclear arsenal.
“He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!” the US president said.