Trump says he will walk out if North Korea talks ‘not fruitful’
US president says he would ‘respectfully leave’ if the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would turn out unproductive.
Donald Trump has threatened to cancel planned talks with North Korea‘s leader if they are “not fruitful”.
Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a press conference, the US President on Wednesday was optimistic over a planned meeting with Kim Jong-un, but said he would “respectfully leave” if the summit would turn out unproductive.
“I like always remaining flexible. We’ll remain flexible here,” he said.
Trump added that a campaign of “maximum pressure” would continue “until North Korea denuclearises”.
Abe implored the international community and the US not to reward Kim just for showing up for talks.
“Just because North Korea is responding to dialogue there should be no reward, maximum pressure should be maintained,” he said.
The comments of both leaders came at the end of a two-day meeting at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Also on Wednesday, Trump confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo had met with Kim, to secretly lay the groundwork for the upcoming summit.
“[Pompeo] got along with him really well, really great,” Trump said.
Diplomatic standoff
The US top spy has yet to be confirmed as secretary of state, after Rex Tillerson was fired in March.
He is facing opposition in the Senate foreign relations committee and might have his nomination put to a vote in the Senate without the committee’s favourable recommendation – something that has not happened since votes were made public in 1925.
Trump accepted an invitation in March to meet Kim this summer.
The invitation followed months of diplomatic standoff that saw the two leaders exchange fiery military threats and personal insults.
On Tuesday, Trump gave his “blessing” for inter-Korean talks, scheduled for April 27.
“Subject to a deal they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that,” Trump said.
A date for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un has not yet been set with the White House still weighing five potential locations, according to comments made by Trump to reporters on Tuesday.
Trump earlier said the summit would take place “sometime in May or early June”.