PRESS RELEASE

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Duterte: We Must Talk to Kim Jong-un

Oct. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)—In a press conference yesterday before leaving for Japan, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on the North Korean crisis:

"We are worried, all of us, that you know, Murphys Law: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. A nuclear war is totally unacceptable to everybody."

Duterte said that Kim Jong-un must be assured that his country will not be attacked:

"You must remember that he is a leader of his people. So, if somebody could just reach out, talk to him and say, ‘My friend, why don’t you just join me in the table and we’ll just talk about these things?’ Nobody’s talking to him."

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reiterated the point in a separate press conference. "We hope sanctions will work. But they are not working," he said,

"but only strengthening the leader Kim Jong-un, who feeds on the fear of being invaded, rallies his people to defend against an invasion. The major players—the U.S., China and Russia—need another approach, to reach out to North Korea."

On U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the Philippines for the ASEAN Summit, Duterte said:

"I would deal with President Trump in the most righteous way, welcome him as an important leader. I would also listen to him, what he has to say."