North Korea's Kim 'believes in' Trump ahead of second Trump summit - KCNA

[webfact]

North Korea's Kim 'believes in' Trump ahead of second Trump summit - KCNA

By Joyce Lee

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands after signing documents during a summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke highly of U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said on Thursday, and expressed satisfaction over the results of talks between officials from both countries about a second summit between Kim and Trump.

 

Kim said he would trust Trump's approach, the North's official KCNA news agency said, weeks after Kim warned North Korea could seek a "new path" if U.S. sanctions and pressure continued. That suggested Kim was focused on the next meeting with Trump to produce results.

 

"Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trump's positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," KCNA said.

 

It said Kim expressed "large satisfaction" at receiving a "great" letter from Trump and a briefing about the results of the negotiations from the North Korean delegation that visited Washington last week but did not elaborate.

 

Kim ordered working-level preparations for the second North Korea-U.S. summit to be done well, KCNA said. The White House said last week a second Trump-Kim summit would be held in late February but did not say where.

 

That follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June, which produced a promise to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Progress since then has been patchy.

 

Kim has indicated to South Korean President Moon Jae-in he would undertake a "groundbreaking" denuclearisation measure, South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo reported on Thursday.

 

The newspaper, citing an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the U.S.-North Korea situation, said the same had been made clear to Trump during senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol's Washington visit last week.

 

North Korea has hinted, for example, at the possibility of agreeing to the U.S. demand for verification of denuclearisation efforts before it discards its Yongbyon nuclear facilities.

 

In turn, the United States has mentioned potential measures such as easing limits on oil imports, a conditional restart of the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, and opening a liaison office in Pyongyang, DongA reported.

 

'NO RUSH'

DongA also said that, according to several South Korean government sources, talks between officials from North Korea, the United States and South Korea near Stockholm this week appeared to have been constructive in setting some of the agenda for the second Trump-Kim summit.

 

The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the DongA report.

 

The White House said after Trump met Kim Yong Chol, the North's chief nuclear negotiator, last week that economic sanctions against Pyongyang would be maintained despite agreeing to the second summit.

 

Trump has said there is "no rush" and "no time limit" on denuclearisation negotiations, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has given varying statements about the degree of Washington's patience.

 

Pompeo said after the Singapore summit the United States hoped to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea by the end of Trump's current term in office in January 2021. He has subsequently said he would not put a timeline on talks.

 

He told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday there had been progress in stopping North Korea's nuclear and missile-testing programmes.

 

"Chairman Kim continues to assure the President of the United States he is intent on denuclearisation and I hope that at the end of February, when the two leaders get together, we can make a substantial step along the way," Pompeo said.

 

He said on Tuesday he saw an important role for the private sector in helping to develop North Korea if progress was made.

 

(Reporting by Joyce Lee in SEOUL, David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Phil Berlowitz and Paul Tait)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-24

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Kim 'believes in' Trump

this has put so many different images in my head...

[johnnybangkok]

In other words 'I believe I can string this idiot along long enough to get my missiles working well whilst not giving him a anything of real merit. Once my missiles can reach the US then we can REALLY talk.'

[bristolboy]

Well, it makes more sense than believing in Santa Claus, even though Trump is a more improbable figure. After all, Trump has already delivered for Kim.

[Berkshire]

Just now, johnnybangkok said:

In other words 'I believe I can string this idiot along long enough to get my missiles working well whilst not giving him a anything of real merit. Once my missiles can reach the US then we can REALLY talk.'

Exactly.  Kim Jong is not stupid.  He knows that a little bit of fake flattery goes a long way with Trump.  It's Trump who's dumber than a rock and will give Dear Leader anything he wants just so Trump can go back and tell his idiot supporters that "Kim Jong loves me!" 

[Trouble]

10 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Exactly.  Kim Jong is not stupid.  He knows that a little bit of fake flattery goes a long way with Trump.  It's Trump who's dumber than a rock and will give Dear Leader anything he wants just so Trump can go back and tell his idiot supporters that "Kim Jong loves me!" 

And, I suppose you think that the U.S. negotiators that met in Sweden are there because the the North Korean negotiators are flattering them too. Seems to me like real negotiations are taking place behind the scenes no matter what you think of Trump.

[neeray]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

"Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trump's positive way of thinking

Yes, real positive! My way (Trump) or the highway.

But Kim, being the real genius of the pair, will play Trump like a fiddle once again. He knows that Trumps days are numbered and will grab all that he can now before a real free-world-leader takes over again in 2020. They are both desperate for attention and being in the lime light feeds their super-sized egos.

[Credo]

1 hour ago, Trouble said:

And, I suppose you think that the U.S. negotiators that met in Sweden are there because the the North Korean negotiators are flattering them too. Seems to me like real negotiations are taking place behind the scenes no matter what you think of Trump.

For one moment do you think that Trump won't throw any deals out the window?   He has many times agreed to one thing and then changed his mind and done a 180.   Anyone negotiating on his behalf is negotiating into a void.   

 

That said, and giving no trust to Trump, it's always better for the two of them to be talking in a civil manner rather than the rhetoric of the past.   

[Jingthing]

It's the lub story of the century. Yeah, may as well accept NK as a nuclear power now. That's been their plan all along and "trump" with his folly is sealing the deal. He's a great negotiator in his deluded mind only. 

[bristolboy]

3 hours ago, Trouble said:

And, I suppose you think that the U.S. negotiators that met in Sweden are there because the the North Korean negotiators are flattering them too. Seems to me like real negotiations are taking place behind the scenes no matter what you think of Trump.

Define "real negotiations"

[Tug]

I’m glad someone believes in trump cause I certenly don’t 

[KhunFred]

And this is considered a GOOD thing????

[ballpoint]

[ballpoint]

In case the previous cartoon is too subtle for some:

[EVENKEEL]

Another example of extreme TDS, absolutely nothing he accomplishes will be acknowledged beyond adolescent memes. Seems like some liked it better with threats of missiles fired at US soil.

[sammieuk1]

Looks more like he believes in McDonald and got his pronunciation miss quoted????

[johnnybangkok]

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Another example of extreme TDS, absolutely nothing he accomplishes will be acknowledged beyond adolescent memes. Seems like some liked it better with threats of missiles fired at US soil.

I promise you that if Trump does manage to accomplish anything meaningful with NK then I will personally come on this forum, admit I was wrong (something you never hear from a Trumpster) and praise the man to the high heavens. Us libtards are good like that.

BUT since NK has gone down this route on at least 6 other separate occasions and NEVER actually dismantled any nukes or come remotely close to denuclearisation, I think my humility might remain intact.    

[bristolboy]

If I were Kim, I'd believe in Trump, too. Especially given his stance on military support for South Korea:

Trump's Spat With Ally South Korea Raises Fears of U.S. Pullback

Just as President Donald Trump looks to make peace with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, his administration is putting fresh strain on the U.S.’s seven-decade alliance with South Korea.

At issue is the Trump administration’s insistence that South Korea accepts as much as a 50 percent increase in what it pays for U.S. military protection, including subsidizing the nuclear-capable bombers stationed thousands of miles away on Guam...

The prospect of getting a deal before an April 15 deadline seems poor, according to a South Korean official familiar with the talks. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-27/trump-s-spat-with-ally-south-korea-raises-fears-of-u-s-pullback?srnd=premium-asia

Ordinarily, I'd have a lot of sympathy with Trump's point of view. But in the middle of negotiations with North Korea you decide that the higher priority is getting South Korea to pay more? That's just giving Kim an incentive to do nothing and wait for Apr 15. Not that these negotiations have a chance in hell of succeeding in getting N. Korea to denuclearize. Maybe Trump's demands are a de facto recognition of that impossibility? Unlikely. More likely to chalk it down to Trump's confused thought processes.

[balo]

Maybe they can get a double room at the summit ?  With a sign on the door : KIm & Donald's room, do not distrurb 

[neeray]

Kim is a smart negotiator. Donald, well .............. .

Kim, he understands "the art of the deal".

Kim knows a sucker when he sees one.