Politics
09:32, 10-Mar-2018
White House says 'concrete steps' needed before meeting with DPRK's Kim
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US President Donald Trump says a deal between the US and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would be "a very good one" for the world.
The White House confirmed on Thursday that the US president has agreed to meet DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by May, a move that was widely praised by the world community.
"The deal with North Korea (DPRK) is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World," Trump tweeted late on Friday.
The time and location of the highly anticipated meeting are yet to be determined, though White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to suggest that there may be preconditions.
"The president will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions taken place by North Korea (the DPRK), so the president would actually be getting something," she told a daily press briefing Friday afternoon.
In this file photo taken on February 9, 2018, US Vice President Mike Pence (R) and DPRK's Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the PyeongChang Stadium. /VCG Photo
In this file photo taken on February 9, 2018, US Vice President Mike Pence (R) and DPRK's Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the PyeongChang Stadium. /VCG Photo
US State Secretary Rex Tillerson said Friday that the conditions are not right for negotiations with the DPRK, though the United States was "open to talks."
"President Trump has said for some time that he was open to talks and he would willingly meet with Kim Jong Un when conditions were right and the time was right," said the visiting top US diplomat in the capital city of Djibouti.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that he's encouraged by the announcement of possible talks.
China welcomed the announcement of a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un, urging them to show "political courage" in the pursuit of denuclearization on the peninsula.
"We welcome the positive signals by the US and the DPRK about having direct dialogue. The Korean Peninsula issue is moving in the right direction towards its settlement," said Geng Shuang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday.
(Head image file photo)