US President Donald Trump disclosed on Tuesday, 17 April that the United States is having direct talks at "extremely high levels" with Pyongyang to try to set up a summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump made the acknowledgement during a picture-taking session with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as they opened two days of talks at the president's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, which is to include a round of golf.
Abe obtained an agreement from Trump to bring up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea during any summit.
Trump said US officials are looking at five different locations for a late-May or early-June meeting with Kim.
Asked if any of those were in the United States, Trump said 'no'.
He did not identify who on the US side was talking to the North Koreans.
We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea. And I really believe this allows good will, that good things are happening. We’ll see what happens... because ultimately it’s the end result that counts, not the fact that we’re thinking about having a meeting, or having a meetingUS President Donald Trump said.
Trump and Abe are having two days of talks largely focused on the prospective summit with Kim as Japan seeks a US commitment that any denuclearization deal the president seals with Kim will include not just long-range missiles but those that could be aimed at Japan.
Trump said it was possible that diplomatic efforts to arrange a summit will fall short.
"It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken," he said.
Trump also backed efforts between South Korea and the North aimed to end a state of war that has existed between the two countries since 1953.
"They do have my blessing to discuss the end of the war. People don’t realize the Korean War has not ended. It’s going on right now. And they are discussing an end to the war. Subject to a deal they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that," he said.
Abe said Japan would like North Korea to agree to a complete, verifiable denuclearization and that Trump had shown "courage" in attempting to set up a summit with Kim.
Japan and ourselves are locked and we are unified on the subject of North Korea.Trump said, seated on a couch beside Abe in the ornate entrance hall at the beachfront estate.
Both leaders could use a successful summit to give themselves a political boost at home. Trump has been hounded by controversies linked to an investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election, and Abe is struggling with declining popularity because of scandals over suspected cronyism.
Trump has forged close ties with Abe during his 15 months in power and the two have bonded over rounds of golf during Abe's last visit to Florida more than a year ago and Trump's visit to Tokyo last November.
Trade Agenda
Japan fears Trump will try to link vital security matters with touchy trade topics. Tokyo is eager to avoid being pushed into talks on a two-way free trade agreement aimed not only at market access but at currency policies, something South Korea recently accepted when it renegotiated a trade deal with the United States.
Another irritant on trade is that Japan has not been given an exemption to tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the United States, unlike the European Union, Canada and Mexico.
While Trump has said he prefers bilateral trade deals over multilateral ones, because America can win a better deal with just one country, he recently instructed United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow to reopen talks for the United States to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Trump killed that pact when he took office last year, but said recently he was open to rejoining on better terms. The 11 other countries in the TPP talks pressed ahead after Washington dropped out.
Kudlow appeared to indicate there was little prospect of immediate progress on rejoining. The United States was involved in eight years of formal negotiations on the TPP before it withdrew.
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