US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he still had confidence in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but noted that Kim “likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he?”
DENUCLEARIZATION TALKS
“That’s why I call him Rocket Man,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with the head of NATO in London He said he hoped Kim would denuclearize, but added: “we’ll find out.”
North Korea’s missile test was seen as an effort to remind the United States of a year-end deadline Kim has set for Washington to show flexibility in stalled denuclearization talks.
Trump said he was also pressing ahead with negotiations with allies South Korea and Japan to shoulder more of the cost of stationing US troops in those countries.
He said South Korea last year agreed to pay nearly $500 million a year more for US protection, and added the United States now wanted additional commitments.