AFP . Tokyo :
Donald TrumpThere is “great respect” between the United States and North Korea, president Donald Trump said Monday, predicting “lots of good things” despite recent missile launches by Pyongyang.
“I personally think that lots of good things will come with North Korea, I feel that. I may be right, I may be wrong, but I feel that,” Trump said at the start of bilateral talks with Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
“We’ve come a long way,” the US leader added.
“There’s a good respect built, maybe a great respect built between certainly the United States and North Korea.”
The comments come despite short-range missile launches by Pyongyang in May that Trump’s own National Security Advisor John Bolton said over the weekend were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Trump appeared to dispute Bolton’s assessment in a tweet on Sunday, in which he called the missiles “small weapons” that “disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me”.
The US president is in Tokyo for a state visit that included a meeting with the newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito on Monday morning, the first time the monarch has met a foreign leader since taking the throne.
Trump’s bilateral talks with Abe are expected to focus on trade, North Korea and military issues, as well as other diplomatic crises, including the tensions between Washington and Tehran.
