Trump also opens
the door to meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and even praises for the globally ostracized leader.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump opened the door Monday to a future meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, offering unusual praise for the globally ostracized leader at a time of surging nuclear tensions.
Although the White House played down nearterm prospects for such a meeting, Trump’s conciliatory comments marked a departure from his more unforgiving tone toward the North in recent days. It marked the latest fluctuation as Trump’s administration struggles to articulate its policy for addressing the growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear program.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, South Korea announced that a U.S. anti-missile system based in the nation’s southeast can now defend against North Korean missiles.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said the Terminal High Altitude Defense system, known as THAAD, has “early capability” to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat, but he didn’t say when Washington and Seoul expected THAAD to be operating fully.
As a presidential candidate, Trump suggested he was open to meeting Kim, but hadn’t repeated the line since taking office.
Deeming President Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” with North Korea a total failure, Trump and his aides say they’re taking a more aggressive approach, at times warning of potential military confrontation if the North
doesn’t change course.
The U.S. has even raised the possibility of a preemptive strike if Pyongyang conducts another nuclear test.
Yet on other occasions, Trump’s administration has dangled carrots. It has spoken of restarting negotiations with the North and even suggested resuming food aid to North Korea once it starts dismantling its nuclear and missile programs.
On one point, at least, Trump and his team have been consistently clear: A solution requires China, the North’s biggest economic partner. Trump is hoping China can pressure the North into a peaceful denuclearization. The Obama administration unsuccessfully sought the same objective for years.
Trump’s suggestion of admiration for Kim, however, is entirely new.
He noted that Kim assumed office in his 20s and has held power despite efforts by “a lot of people” to take it away.
“So obviously, he’s a pretty smart cookie,” Trump told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday.
Tasked with explaining Trump’s flattery, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said there would be no meeting with the secretive North Korean leader until circumstances were right and numerous conditions met.
The U.S. maintains no diplomatic relations with North Korea and the two countries are technically at war, as the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty.