World leaders react to Trump’s ‘terrific relationship’ with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
IT was the result that no one was expecting. World leaders have reacted to Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s “historic moment”. But not everyone is happy.
Leaders
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THE joint statement between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump was warmly welcomed in parts of Asia, although leaders in Europe took a more cautious approach and said it was a first step.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the statement would “end the Cold War’’ and his North Korean counterpart would be “remembered as a leader who made a historic moment by taking the first bold step toward the world”.
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President Moon, whose country faces the greatest risk from a nuclearised neighbour, said there would be difficulties ahead but “we will never go back to the past again”.
“Building upon the agreement reached today, we will take a new path going forward. Leaving dark days of war and conflict behind, we will write a new chapter of peace and cooperation,’’ he said.
He did not mention the apparently surprise decision of Mr Trump’s to drop joint military exercises between the US and South Korea.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the joint statement was a “dramatic step forward.’’
“It is a crucial moment in the long journey to lasting peace and stability on a denuclearised Korean Peninsula,’’ he said, in letters penned to both leaders.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe praised the denuclearisation agreement but wanted to focus on the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean spies, an issue Mr Trump said he had raised with Chairman Kim.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said that the meeting was an important step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
He also praised Trump’s “tough” stance on Iran and its nuclear program, which he said was already affecting Iran’s economy.
“President Trump’s policies are an important tiding for Israel, the region and the entire world.” Netanyahu has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters on the global stage. He vehemently opposed the Iran nuclear deal signed between world powers and Iran, from which the U.S. withdrew last month.
China praised the political resolve of the American and North Korean leaders — and said it may be time to discuss lifting sanctions on Pyongyang.
“The United States and North Korea have been in a state of antagonism for more than half a century,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
“Today, that the two countries’ highest leaders can sit together and have equal talks, has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang later said that UN sanctions against the North could be suspended or lifted in accordance with Pyongyang’s actions.
“We believe the Security Council should make efforts to support the diplomatic efforts at the present time,” he said.
The European Union’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini described the agreement as a “crucial and necessary step’’ which would “build upon the positive developments achieved in the inter-Korean relations and on the peninsula so far.’’
The Danish government, in a statement from the prime minister’s office, described the summit as a diplomatic breakthrough but warned: “history shows we must be vigilant…North Korea has previously agreed to disarmament and not kept its word.”
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said the UN’s nuclear watchdog welcomed the joint statement and offered to undertake ant verification work required.
Russia had a positive assessment of the deal — but “the devil is in the detail,” TASS news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying, according to Reuters.
“Now we can only welcome the fact that an important step forward has been made,” Ryabkov said. “Of course, the devil is in the detail, and we have yet to delve into specifics. But the impulse, as far as we understand, has been given.”
India’s foreign ministry said it hoped for complete implementation of the agreement signed in Singapore, “thus paving the way for lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.”
The Iranian government told North Korea not to trust Mr Trump.
Government spokesman Mohammed Bagher Nobakht said: “we are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad,’’ according to the Fars news agency.
Mr Trump recently tore up the anti-nuclear proliferation deal with Iran signed by his predecessor Barack Obama.
In 2002, former US president George W. Bush had described Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the “axis of evil.’’
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