Trump Cautious On North Korea N-Talks

US Donald Trump has reacted cautiously to news that North Korea is willing to talk about giving up its nuclear weapons if it did not feel threatened.

The US President said “the statements coming out of South Korea and North Korea have been very positive”, but also said it might be a “false hope”.

South Korea earlier said the subject was raised when its officials met the North’s leader, Kim Jongun, on Monday.

Seoul said Mr Kim was also open to US talks, and would pause weapons testing. However previous talks with North Korea have come to nothing.

There has also been no immediate comment from Pyongyang itself. Further news that the leaders of North and South Korea have also agreed to meet at a summit next month, came via the leader of the South’s delegation, Chung Euiyong.

It would be the first such meeting for more than a decade and the first since Kim Jong-un took power in North Korea in 2011.

What did President Trump say?

“We have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with North Korea,” Mr Trump said. “The statements coming out of South Korea and North Korea have been very positive. That would be a great thing for the world.”

The US leader also praised Pyongyang for its decision to take part in the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.

But he earlier posted a cautious tweet, warning about a “false hope”. While the US president said he believed Pyongyang’s offer to hold denuclearisation talks was “sincere” he said it was “also because of the sanctions and what we’re doing with respect to North Korea.” Meanwhile, US Vice-President Mike Pence said the US remained “committed to applying maximum pressure on the Kim regime to end their nuclear programme”.