Trump on Korean news: Could be ‘progress’ or ‘false hope’
WASHINGTON — A cautious President Donald Trump spoke of possible progress Tuesday after South Korea announced that North Korea would halt nuclear weapons and missile tests and put its entire atomic arsenal up for discussion if the U.S. agrees to enter a negotiation. It could also be “false hope,” the American leader said.
Trump credited all sides with a “serious effort” as U.S.-allied South Korean envoys returned home from a rare visit to their northern neighbour with the news of an inter-Korean summit planned for late April. But given the North’s long history of broken promises on a nuclear program that now threatens the U.S. mainland, it wasn’t surprising that Trump hedged.
“Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!”
North Korea has yet to confirm details of the announcements from Seoul that appeared to open the door to dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang after a year of escalating threats by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and escalating fears of war.