Trump speaks to South Korean prez Moon Jae-in about N Korea summit

By Lalit K Jha
    Washington, Feb 20 (PTI) Ahead of the North Korea summit in Hanoi later this month, US President Donald Trump Tuesday discussed the trip with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and told reporters his ultimate goal is denuclearization of N Korea.
    "I had a great conversation this morning with President Moon of South Korea. We obviously discussed the upcoming trip next week...we're going to Hanoi in Vietnam...I look forward to being with Chairman Kim (Jong-un)..I think a lot of things will come out of it," Trump told reporters about the telephonic conversation.
    President Moon and I discussed probably every aspect of the meeting," he said.
    "We're in no rush whatsoever, we're going to have our meeting...we'll see what happens and I think ultimately we're going to be very successful."     Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are scheduled to meet on February 27-28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
    "The two leaders agreed to remain in close communication following the summit," the White House said.
    In an interaction with reporters, Trump said he would be talking over phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Wednesday on the same issue.
    "I will be speaking tomorrow (Wednesday) with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. I will be having a similar conversation. So I think, next week is going to be very exciting. It's going to be the second summit," he said, adding his ultimate goal is denuclearization of North Korea.
    "I think we will see that ultimately. I have no pressing time schedule. A lot of people would like to see it go very quickly from the other side. I really believe that N Korea can be a tremendous economic power. Their location between Russia, China and South Korea is unbelievable," he said.
    Trump said that North Korea and chairman Kim have some very positive things in mind.
     "We will soon find out. I'm in no rush. There's no testing... If you look at the end of the Obama administration, it was a disaster. What was going on. You don't have that right now. It's a much different feeling. I think people have...there's always danger, but I think people have much different feeling," he said. PTI LKJ TIR
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