Trump tells North Korea: ‘Come to the table and make a deal’
● US president began South Korea visit with trip to joint military base
US president Donald Trump yesterday abandoned his aggressive rhetoric toward North Korea, signalling a willingness to negotiate as he urged Pyongyang to “come to the table and make a deal”.
Mr Trump, in his first day on the Korean peninsula, again pushed Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, but sidelined apocalyptic threats for an optimistic note, saying that “ultimately, it’ll all work out”. And while he said the United States would use military force if needed, he expressed his strongest inclination yet to deal with rising tensions with North Korea through diplomacy.
“It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world,” Mr Trump said during a news conference alongside South Korean president Moon Jae-in. “I do see certain movement.”
Mr Trump said he has seen “a lot of progress” in dealing with the North, though he stopped short of saying whether he wanted direct talks.
He also underlined the United States’ military options, noting that three aircraft carrier groups and a nuclear submarine had been deployed to the region. But he said “we hope to God we never have to use” the arsenal.
At an official banquet, Mr Trump also spoke about an “exciting day tomorrow for many reasons that people will find out”. He did not elaborate.
During his first day in South Korea, Mr Trump lowered the temperature on his previously incendiary language about the North. There were no threats of unleashing “fire and fury”, as he previously warned. Nor did the president revive his derisive nickname for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un – “Little Rocket Man”.
But Mr Trump did decree that Mr Kim was “threatening millions and millions of lives, so needlessly” and highlighted one of the central missions of his first lengthy Asia trip: to enlist many nations in the region, including China and Russia, to cut off Pyongyang’s economic lifeblood and pressure it into giving up its nuclear programme.
Mr Moon, who has been eager to solidify a friendship with Mr Trump, said he hoped the US president’s visit would be a moment of inflection in the stand-off with North Korea and said the two leaders had “agreed to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue in peaceful manner” that would “bring permanent peace” to the peninsula.
“I know that you have put this issue at the top of your security agenda,” said Moon. “So I hope that your visit to Korea and to the Asia-pacific region will serve as an opportunity to relieve some of the anxiety that the Korean people have due to North Korea’s provocations and also serve as a turning point in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.”
But he did bemoan that pre- vious administrations had not handled Pyongyang, saying: “Now is not the right time to be dealing with this but it’s what I got.”
Mr Trump began his day in South Korea with a visit to Camp Humphreys, a joint Us-korean military base. But even as he walked among the weapons of war, he struck a hopeful note, saying: “It always works out.”
Mr Trump indicated he would place the issues of security and trade at the heart of his visit. He praised South Korea for significant purchases of American military equipment and urged the two nations to have a more equitable trade relationship.
Mr Moon said the two agreed on lifting the warhead payload limits on South Korean ballistic missiles and co-operating on strengthening South Korea’s defence capabilities through the acquisition or development of advanced weapons systems.
Mr Trump also pushed his economic agenda, saying the current Us-korea trade agreement was “not successful” and “not very good” for the US.