Trump still pins hope on Kim Jong-un's commitment

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters/Yonhap

That was the content of Trump's remarks to reporters on Air Force One while on his way to attend an event in Montana while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was flying to Pyongyang to finalize the details of the nuclear disarmament agreement reached between Trump and Kim last month.

“Under the Obama administration, they were launching missiles, they were testing,” Trump said. “They’re not going to do that anymore. It could start tomorrow. Who knows? And if they do, I’m not happy. But in the last eight months, there’s been no rocket launch, no missile launch, no nuclear test.”

Trump appears to credit himself with getting North Korea to halt its nuclear testing, a move that followed a rapid escalation last year involving the country's sixth nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile test.

He claimed to have “got along very well” with Mr. Kim at their summit in Singapore last month. In exchange for “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Trump pledged to provide security guarantees to North Korea.

“I think we understand each other,” the US president said when asked if he trusted Mr. Kim. “I really believe that he sees a different future for North Korea. I hope that’s true. If it’s not true, we’ll go back down the other road.”

Trump has not explained what that alternative might be, but last year he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea while pushing for an international sanctions campaign against the Pyongyang regime.

Recent reports have said North Korea has continued to build nuclear and missile facilities despite the summit agreement, while US officials have also accused Pyongyang of trying to deceive Washington to extract concessions.

“We’ll see,” Trump said. “That’s all I can tell you. You haven’t seen any missiles or rockets in a long time.”