North Korea’s desire for peace is key, says Trump

America hopes Kim Jong Un wants to avoid conflict

Donald Trump has said how much North Korea’s leader desires peace will be a deciding factor in easing tensions between his nation and the United States.

In an interview in Wisconsin, the US president complained that his predecessors should have dealt with North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, but said he was in the position now where he was “going to have to do something about it”.

He said the US wanted peace and he hoped North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un wanted the same, adding that would be “the end determination”.

Mr Trump has been pressuring China, North Korea’s benefactor, to help defuse the situation, but has also warned that the US will settle the issue alone if other countries will not help.

Meanwhile, US vice-president Mike Pence warned North Korea not to test the resolve of America’s military, promising it would make an “overwhelming and effective” response to any use of conventional or nuclear weapons.

Speaking aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier at the US Yokosuka naval base in Tokyo Bay, Mr Pence said the Trump administration would continue to “work diligently” with allies like Japan, China and other global powers to apply economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.

But he told the 2,500 sailors: “The United States of America will always seek peace but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready.”

Mr Pence’s speech on the aircraft carrier followed meetings in Tokyo on Tuesday with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, where he noted that “all options are on the table”.

Mr Abe said it was a “matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well peaceable settlements of the issue”.

US defence secretary Jim Mattis warned that North Korea’s latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation and assured allies in Asia that America was ready to work to achieve a peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Picture: Getty. From left: candidates Sim Sang-jung, Hong Joon-pyo, Yoo Seungmin, Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo pose for photographers prior to a joint TV debate for South Korea’s May presidential election.