Trump sees big success in planned North Korea talks
MOON TOWNSHIP-Agence France-Presse
U.S. President Donald Trump predicted “tremendous success” on March 10 in upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and suggested the reclusive state wants to “make peace” despite a years-long nuclear standoff.
The comments came after the American leader said he has received encouragement from the leaders of China and Japan, and assurance that North Korea had promised not to shoot missiles in the interim, as he moves toward the high stakes summit, announced suddenly this week.
“I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success... We have a lot of support,” Trump told reporters before boarding his Marine One helicopter to travel to a rally in Pennsylvania.
“The promise is they wouldn’t be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they’re looking to de-nuke. So that’d be great.”
At the rally, he told supporters that the United States had “shown great strength” when tensions were high with Pyongyang, but he went so far as to say the reclusive regime’s leaders “want to make peace.”
“I think it’s time,” Trump said.
He also boasted that his reducing the North Korean nuclear threat helped save the Winter Olympics that were held last month in South Korea.
“It’s a little hard to sell tickets when you think you are going to be nuked,” the president added.
Earlier, Trump said China’s President Xi Jinping was appreciative of his decision to opt for diplomacy rather than “the ominous alternative,” while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was “very enthusiastic” about talks with North Korea.
Trump reached out to the Asian leaders in phone calls on March 9 after his stunning decision to accept an invitation to meet Kim before the end of May.
The turnabout -- a huge surprise after months of intensifying brinksmanship over the North’s nuclear and missile programs -- caught even Trump’s top aides off guard.
Just hours before Trump made his announcement on March 8, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said direct talks with North Korea were “a long way” off.
White House officials initially waffled on the president’s intentions.
“We’re not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on March 9.
But in a series of tweets late on March 9 and March 10, a seemingly ebullient Trump emphasized the positive.
“North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!” he said.
Trump praised a possible future agreement with the nuclear-armed North as “very good” for the international community as a whole.
He also tweeted that Xi “appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!”
A White House readout of the conversation said the two leaders committed to keeping the pressure on North Korea until it takes “tangible steps toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”
North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Song Il credited the turnabout to Kim’s “broadminded and resolute” decision to contribute to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula.
“The United States should know and understand our position and should further contribute to the peace and security-building in the Korean Peninsula with (a) sincere position and serious attitude,” he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.