Trump: Kimcould getWhite House invite
WASHINGTON » The United States hopes to one day normalize relations with North Korea, President Trump said Thursday, adding that he would invite North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the United States if next week’s historic summit goes well.
Trump signaled that a grand bargain to reverse decades of enmity is not on the table for his unprecedented meeting Tuesday in Singapore with Kim, but sounded upbeat as he described the North Korean leader as sincere about re making the future for his impoverished country.
“We would certainly like to see normalization, yes,” Trump said following two hours of meetings with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
That would come after what Trump described as a diplomatic process that could include an agreement to safeguard Kim from the threat of ouster at the hands of the United States.
“I don’t think it will be one meeting,” Trump said.
Trump last year derided Kimas “Little RocketMan” and vowed to destroy nuclear-armed North Korea if it threatened the United States or its allies, but has recently spoken about Kim more positively as he promotes the summit as a chance to strike a historic deal. On Thursday, he confirmed rumors that an invitiaton to the White House could be in the offing for Kim, the third generation of his family to hold absolute rule in the isolated communist country sometimes called theHermit Kingdom.
“I think he would look at it very favorably, so I think that could happen,” Trump said.
Skeptics, including many Republicans, have worried that Trump is giving up leverage simply by meeting with Kim, since doing so implies that the North Korean leader holds equal status with the U.S. leader.
Abe’s main goal for the hastily-scheduled meeting is to warn Trump off any quick deal with North Korea that could shortchange Japanese interests. Japan has been directly menaced by North Korean missiles fired over its waters and land, and is seen as a primary target because of its decades-long security alliance with the United States and the presence of U. S. forces on its soil.
Abe also wants to ensure Trump takes Kim to task over Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
Trump has previously promised to raise those cases.