President Trump said Friday that he had a responsibility to the world to end the nuclear threat from North Korea, saying that he hoped for something “dramatic” when he meets with dictator Kim Jong-un.
“This is beyond the United States. This is a world problem and it’s something I hope I’m able to do for the world,” the president said.
He said failure to denuclearize North Korea would mean “a very tough time for a lot of countries and a lot of people.”
Major progress was underway, with North and South Korea issuing a joint statement declaring a mutual goal of “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula. The declaration followed a historic meeting Friday between Mr. Kim and South President Moon Jae-in.
“A lot of good things are happening with respect to North Korea,” Mr. Trump said.
He made the comments at a joint press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Ms. Merkel credited the promising developments in North Korea to Mr. Trump’s strong pressure on the communist regime.
Mr. Trump said that the threat from North Korea should have been handled by his predecessors but the responsibility falls to him now that he’s president and North Korea possesses both nuclear weapons and long-range missile technology.
Mr. Trump plans to meet with Mr. Kim in May or June. They are looking at two or three potential locations for the meeting, the president said.
“This shouldn’t have been left for me to handle. But we are handling it now,” Mr. Trump said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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