Trump hails ‘a great thing for the world’
US president triumphant at summit result, while leaders around world voice more cautious optimism
DONALD TRUMP yesterday hailed the Korea summit as better than anyone could have imagined, while other world leaders struck a note of more cautious optimism.
The meeting, during which Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South, has been seen by leaders in the region as a stepping stone to more significant developments in the future.
Kim and South Korean president Moon Jae-in agreed on a raft of measures yesterday, including a commitment to sign a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War by the end of the year and to achieve the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula.
Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, was clear that Kim must follow up his promising rhetoric with concrete action.
Mr Abe said he “strongly” hoped Pyongyang would take clear steps towards its pledge to scrap its nuclear weapons programme. “I will keep a close watch on North Korea’s future conduct,” he said.
The Chinese government, North Korea’s biggest ally, said it welcomed moves to promote reconciliation between the two sides “and extends its congratulation”.
Beijing stressed that it was ready to “play its positive role” in the peace efforts, a comment that appeared to underline China’s desire to be involved in any multi-party discussions on the future of the region. In contrast to the cautious optimism of his counterparts, the US president hailed the moment as a “great thing for the world” – and trumpeted his own role. “When I began, people were saying that was an impossibility,” Mr Trump said. “They said there were two alternatives: let them have what they have or go to war. And now we have a much better alternative than anybody thought even possible.”
The president said he would be meeting with Kim “very shortly”, with a meeting anticipated in May or early June, but insisted he was “not going to be played” by the North Korean leader. “Relationships are building and building strongly” between the US and North Korea, Mr Trump said at the White House, adding: “This will be a great thing for the world.” Mr Trump refused to say whether he had spoken to Kim directly, but said the location of their meeting had been narrowed down to two potential sites. The US president went on to claim the responsibility for easing tensions should not have been left to him.
“This should have been handled a long time ago, not now... but we will handle it,” he said. He added: “I think I have a responsibility to see if I can do it. And if I can’t do it, it will be a very tough time for a lot of countries and a lot of people.”
European allies were more muted. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said “there are still many questions to be answered”.
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, echoed Mr Johnson, insisting that international sanctions against North Korea “should remain in place until we see a real change”.
The Kremlin also applauded the breakthrough, with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, describing the outcome of the talks as “good news”.