PRESS RELEASE
President Trump Ready To Talk to North Korea If Jan. 9 Meeting Goes Well
Jan. 7, 2018 (EIRNS)—President Trump, speaking to reporters after the Camp David meeting with Congressional leaders this weekend, told the press that he is "absolutely ready to talk to him [Kim Jong-un] if this meeting goes well," referring to the planned Jan. 9 inter-Korean discussion. The Hill reports the President’s remarks:
"‘I always believe in talking. Absolutely, I have no problem with that at all. At the appropriate time, we’ll get involved,’ Trump said. Trump also said ‘I’d like to see them [North Korea] getting involved in the Olympics, and maybe things go from there. So I’m behind that 100 percent,’ the President told reporters at Camp David yesterday."
Calling the Jan. 9 meeting "a big start," he said that if "something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity."
President Trump talked Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron about Korea,
"to provide an update on developments on the Korean Peninsula, and to underscore American, South Korean, and international resolve to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea,"
The Hill reported today, from a readout of their phone call.
North Korea has named its delegation for the Jan. 9 discussions with South Korea. Both sides’ delegations are a combination of those responsible for unification matters and sports ministers.
Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s speech was a call for creating the conditions that will lead to the normalization of inter-Korean relations, according to the D.P.R.K. (North Korean) news agency KCNA.
"The head of the nation clearly stated that our country needs to stick to the policy, which will lead to the breakthrough of all for sufficient unification. It is not worth stirring up the past and recalling the specifics of relations with Seoul. Instead of this, relations between the North and South must be improved.... It is not only about the normalization of the inter-Korean relations, but about the reconciliation of the nations and its free-will unification,"
TASS covered KCNA as reporting.
China announced on Jan. 4 that it was further cutting its crude oil exports to the D.P.R.K. to 3 million barrels per year. Xinhua reported that North Korean workers in China have been sent home.
