Trump hopeful N Korea will move on peace
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said there is “a good chance” that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will “do what is right for his people and for humanity” and make moves towards peace.
In a pair of tweets, he said he received a message from Chinese president Xi Jinping that a meeting Mr Xi had with Mr Kim this week “went very well”.
Mr Trump says that according to Mr Xi, the North Korean leader “looks forward” to meeting the American president.
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to meet Mr Kim by May amid nuclear tensions between the two nations.
Mr Trump has agreed to historic talks after South Korean officials relayed that Mr Kim was committed to ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons and was willing to halt nuclear and missile tests.
In the meantime, Mr Trump said, “unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!”
The Trump administration has slapped sanctions on companies across the globe to punish illicit trade with North Korea.
“For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility,” Mr Trump tweeted.
“Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!”
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Mr Kim’s visit to China “was an unprecedented, historic step in the right direction”.
“It is also evidence that @POTUS’ maximum pressure campaign is working. We look forward to sitting down with Kim Jong Un to talk about a better future for his people,” Ms Nauert said in a tweet.
However, it remains unclear if there has been direct communication between Washington and Pyongyang on the planned Trump-Kim summit that is slated for May, and under what conditions North Korea would agree to give up the nuclear arsenal it has spent decades building.
According to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Mr Kim told China’s Mr Xi that North Korea is willing to have dialogue with the United States and hold a summit of the two countries.
Mr Kim also said the issue of denuclearisation can be resolved if South Korea and the US take “progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace”.
Mr Kim visited Beijing and met China’s President Xi Jinping in his first known trip abroad since he took power in 2011.
Mr Kim made the unofficial visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday at Mr Xi’s invitation, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said.
Mr Xi held talks with Mr Kim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and he and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a banquet for Mr Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju, Xinhua said.
They also watched an art performance together, the news agency added.