Donald Trump predicts 'good' North Korea nuclear resolution 'down the line' as he praises 'real leader' Kim-Jong-un

A handout photo by the North Korean government of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un
AP
James Morris1 March 2019

Donald Trump has said he walked away from de-nuclearisation talks with Kim Jong-un because North Korea is "not ready".

The US president said Mr Kim would only “de-nuke” certain areas, whereas Mr Trump “wanted everything”. But he insisted a deal can still be done "down the line".

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, he again praised the North Korean dictator, asking: “Why shouldn’t I like him?”

Of the failed talks in Hanoi, Mr Trump said: “We’re working towards something but we didn’t sign anything today. It didn’t quite work out. I would say that I wasn’t satisfied, and perhaps he wasn’t satisfied.

Donald Trump meets Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam - In pictures

1/36

“Good relationship, but I decided this wasn’t the right time to sign something. We’ll see what happens over a period of time.

“You have to be prepared to walk and this just wouldn’t have been good for our country, and frankly he can look at it the same way.

“But we get along really well – he’s a different kind of a guy – and I just said: ‘Look, this isn’t going to be working.’ I have a feeling something down the line will happen and it will be good.”

Asked what the "sticking point" in the talks was, Mr Trump said: “They wanted to de-nuke certain areas, and I wanted everything. The sanctions are there and I didn’t want to give up the sanction unless we had a real programme.

President Donald Trump's second year in office - in pictures

1/25

“They are not ready for that, and I understand that fully. I really do. They spent a lot of time building it. That doesn’t mean the world has to be happy, but I wanted them to de-nuke and they wouldn’t do the full.”

Of Mr Kim, Mr Trump added: “He’s a character. He’s a real personality. He’s very smart. He’s sharp as you can be. He’s a real leader. He’s pretty mercurial, I don’t necessarily say that in a bad way.”

He went on: “The relationship is very good. He likes me, I like him. Some people say: ‘You shouldn’t like him.’ I say: ‘Why shouldn’t I like him?’”

North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, however, was not so positive. He suggested the US wasted an opportunity that "may not come again".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in