United States President Donald Trump’s latest comments on isolated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent mixed signals about Washington’s stance on the Korean conflict. Trump said he would be honoured to meet the young leader “under the right circumstances”, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

His statements follow tension in the Korean peninsular over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme, and Washington’s increasing military presence against the North in the region. Trump, however, did not specify the conditions under which he would meet.

On Monday, Trump said, “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely. I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News. “We have breaking news,” he said. His unusual praise for the North Korean leader had been preceded by him calling Kim Jong-un a “pretty smart cookie” on Sunday. Following the interview to Bloomberg, his Press Secretary Sean Spicer clarified that the “conditions” were not conducive for a bilateral meeting.

North Korea’s news agency, however, said Trump’s administration was “seriously mistaken” if it thought the regime would compromise on its nuclear programme. The North also reportedly threatened to increase its nuclear weapons initiative at a “maximum pace” and test a nuclear device “at any time” in response to Washington’s increased military presence in its neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, South Korea on Tuesday announced that the United States missile shield, Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, was operational. Observers said Pyongyang is building its capabilities to develop a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile that could target the United States during Trump’s regime.

In a interview with Reuters on April 28, Trump had said that while he would prefer a diplomatic approach to resolving the standoff with North Korea, a “major conflict” was possible owing to the country’s nuclear and missile programmes. Referring to the young leader’s ascendancy to power at an early age, Trump had said “it’s a hard thing to do”. “He is 27 years old. His father dies, took over a regime. So say what you want but that is not easy, especially at that age.”

Trump had announced that his administration would prevent the North from targeting its mainland with nuclear weapons. Tension started brewing since April 7 when Trump ordered a missile attack in Syria as retaliatory measure to a deadly chemical attack. On April 11, the North Korean state media had warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression.