US President Donald Trump has said that his administration will be setting up another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the “not too distant future.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he had received a “great” letter from Kim and expected to meet with him soon.
Trump defended his policy on North Korea and said that there would have been a “big fat war in Asia” if he had not sat down with Kim during their historic summit in Singapore last June.
Trump in Cabinet meeting, per pool: "On North Korea he said there would be a 'big fat war in Asia' if he had not sat down with Kim."
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 2, 2019
Trump had tweeted yesterday that he was looking forward to meeting Kim again, saying the North Korean leader “realizes so well” how his country “possesses great economic potential.”
The US president also told reporters that he had never emphasized the speed at which Pyongyang would need to denuclearize. In his New Year address on Tuesday, Kim said that he was willing to go forward with denuclearization to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, but said that he could reverse course if the US “clings to sanctions and pressure” to get what it wants.
Kim said he was “always ready” to sit down with Trump to come to an agreement, but that Pyongyang “could be left with no choice” but to “seek a new way” if Washington reneges on its promises or “misjudges our patience.”
Kim also called on South Korea to put an end to war games with the US on the peninsula, saying that they were “outside interferences” intended to block reconciliation between the two countries.
North Korea’s planned denuclearization has stalled since the Singapore summit, with Pyongyang blaming Washington’s refusal to lift sanctions. Last month US special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said that the Trump administration had “no intention” of easing its North Korea sanctions.
Some experts have been skeptical about Washington’s ability to meet Pyongyang halfway, with Andrew Leung, an international and independent China specialist, telling RT that “the Trump administration does not appear the most reliable administration in the world” and that it is “prone to changing tactics.”
“On part of the North Koreans, they see that they have improved the relationship, they have improved the atmosphere over the Korean peninsula, and they expect to see, at least, some easing of the sanctions and they are not seeing that,” Leung said.
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