Trump Says Kim Jong Un's Response Is "Positive," Raising Prospects for US-North Korea Talks

[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his proposal for dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. While North Korea has yet to issue an official public reaction following the abrupt decision to scale down South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, attention is focusing on whether meaningful changes are on the horizon for U.S.-North Korea dialogue.

Lee Hanseok reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

When asked why there had been no reaction from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to his dialogue proposal, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back, asking how anyone could know that he had not responded.

When repeatedly asked whether Kim had responded, President Trump stated that Kim did respond.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: Yes, he responded. (Where does the dialogue stand?) It is very positive.]

He did not disclose the timing, method, or specific details of Kim's response.

Brushing aside criticism that scaling down the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises prioritizes North Korea over the alliance, President Trump maintained that he is making the situation much safer.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: I get along well with Kim Jong Un. He didn't like Biden, he didn't like Obama, he didn't like anybody, but he gets along very well with me. What I'm doing is making things safer.]

President Trump also ramped up pressure on the South Korean government.

He reiterated that during a recent phone call with the South Korean president, he requested support for military operations regarding Iran, but was turned down.

He questioned why South Korea would not help when U.S. forces are stationed there to protect the country, bringing up the issue of defense cost-sharing that had been rolled back under the previous administration.

Stating that the U.S. cannot travel around the world protecting allies if they do not help, he openly intensified pressure for a massive increase in defense contributions.

(Video by: Oh Jung-shik | Video Editing by: Lee Seung-yeol)

※