Trump Lauds North Korea Deal Despite Scepticism

Says Pyongyang no longer a nuclear threat

DonaldTrump has declared that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, following his summit with Kim Jong-un, BBC reported.

Donald Trump has declared that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, following his summit with Kim Jong-un, BBC reported.

The two leaders met on Tuesday, signing a brief declaration on denuclearisation and reducing tensions.

After arriving back in the US, the president also tweeted that “everybody can now feel much safer”.

However, the credibility of that claim is in doubt. Many observers say the agreement does little to reduce North Korea’s stockpile of weapons.

Under the deal, the North retains its nuclear warheads, the missiles to launch them and has not agreed to any specific process to get rid of them.

The declaration signed at the end of the summit said the two countries would co-operate towards “new relations”, while the US would provide “security guarantees” to North Korea.

Pyongyang in return “commits to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.

At a news conference after the meeting, Mr Trump said he would lift sanctions against North Korea once “nukes are no longer a factor”.

He also announced an unexpected end to US-South Korea military drills.

The move - long demanded by Pyongyang - has been seen as a major concession to North Korea and appeared to take US allies in the region by surprise.

Most Western observers have said the deal includes no new commitments from North Korea nor details on how denuclearisation could be achieved or verified.

At his news conference, President Trump said it was difficult to ensure anything but that he trusted his instinct that Mr Kim would abide by his word.

Critics also expressed disappointment that Pyongyang’s long record of human rights abuses was not addressed.