Donald Trump tells Kim Jong Un: ‘Get the deal done’

In a tweet, US President Trump seeks re-engagement amid stalled denuclearisation negotiations with Pyongyang.

In June, the two leaders had a surprise impromptu meeting at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un must “act quickly” to reach a deal with the United States amid stalled negotiations between the two sides over Pyongyang’s denuclearisation, US President Donald Trump said. 

In a tweet on Sunday, weighing in on North Korea’s criticism of his election rival former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump addressed Kim directly, referring to the one-party state’s ruler as “Mr Chairman”.

“I am the only one who can get you where you have to be,” Trump’s said. “You should act quickly, get the deal done. See you soon!”

Advertisement

Trump has met Kim three times since 2018 over ending North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.

Advertisement
190905111656760

But talks between the two sides on a deal for North Korea’s denuclearisation stalled after a summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, between Kim and Trump collapsed in February.

Working-level talks in Sweden last month also broke down.

North Korea said on Thursday it had turned down a US offer for fresh talks before a year-end deadline Pyongyang has set for Washington to show more flexibility in negotiations.

But Pyongyang welcomed the news on Sunday that joint US-South Korean military drills are being postponed in what US defence chief Mark Esper called an “act of goodwill” towards the nuclear-armed North.

Advertisement

‘A rabid dog’

The North’s official KCNA news agency in a commentary on Friday lashed out at Biden, a frontrunner for Democratic 2020 presidential nomination, for insulting Kim.

It said Biden had shown “the temerity to dare slander the dignity of the supreme leadership” of North Korea.

“Rabid dogs like Biden can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about,” the KCNA statement said. “They must be beaten to death with a stick.”

It was not clear what provoked Pyongyang’s ire. But the angry response came after the Biden campaign released an advertisement condemning Trump’s foreign policy and saying “dictators and tyrants are praised, our allies pushed aside”.

“Joe Biden may be Sleepy and Very Slow, but he is not a ‘rabid dog’, Trump said. “He is actually somewhat better than that.”

Biden tops most national opinion polls in the Democratic Party’s nominating contest to take on Republican president in the November 2020 election.

Source: News Agencies

Advertisement