President Trump says would meet N Kim Jong-un under right circumstances
By Kamila Aliyeva
The North Korean nuclear issue has turned into one of the top national security concerns for Donald Trump and his administration and U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed the increasing urgency of the situation.
Trump said that he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "under the right circumstances" to reduce tensions over North Korea's nuclear program.
"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News in an interview on May 1.
He also mentioned that there should be right circumstances to make this meeting possible.
Trump hasn’t clarified what preconditions should be met for such a meeting to occur, but his administration has demanded a freeze on nuclear and long-range missile tests ,as well as a readiness to negotiate North Korea’s complete nuclear disarmament.
No incumbent U.S. president has ever before met with the leader of North Korea while in power.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer, however, said later same day that the U.S. would first need to see changes in North Korean behavior before potential talks.
"We've got to see their provocative behavior ratcheted down immediately," Spicer said adding that "the conditions are not there right now."
The tensions around the Korean peninsula increased after a number of missile launches in North Korea and rumors about a possible nuclear test. The U.S. stated that it does not exclude military options for action against the DPRK, but they intend to focus on economic pressure on Pyongyang through sanctions.
Six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula involving diplomats from Russia, North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China and Japan have been going on since 2003, but since 2008 the dialogue has actually reached a deadlock. Recently, U.S. claimed the end of "the era of strategic patience" towards Pyongyang.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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