Donald Trump deserves credit for talks with North Korea, says South’s President Moon Jae-In
It could be a resulting work of the US-led sanctions and pressure, he said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in attributed the progress in talks between Pyongyang and Seoul to United States President Donald Trump’s intervention, Reuters reported. Any provocation by North Korea will be met with “pressure and sanctions” from the international community, the South Korean president clarified.
“I think President Trump deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks, I want to show my gratitude,” Moon told reporters. “It could be a resulting work of the US-led sanctions and pressure.”
The South Korean president’s comments follow the North and South’s first high-level talks in over two years to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in the tournament despite bilateral tensions. North Korea had stepped up its missile testing with a series of launches in 2017, triggering sanctions and a diplomatic backlash from the international community.
The next step is discussing the denuclearisation of the North, Moon Jae-in said. “[It‘s] our basic stance that will never be given up.”
Pyongyang, however, specified that discussions about its nuclear weapons would be off the table during bilateral discussions. North Korea’s nuclear weapons are only aimed at the United States and not its “brethren” in South Korea, nor Russia or China, Pyongyang had said.