President Donald Trump on Tuesday was skeptically optimistic about North Korea's offer to suspend its nuclear program if it leads to negotiations with the U.S., telling reporters that "they seem to be acting positively."
"We have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically," Trump said in the Oval Office before meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. "It would be a great thing for the world, for the peninsula.
"But we'll see what happens."
Dictator Kim Jong Un has agreed to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next month and announce a halt to his country's nuclear and missile tests if Pyongyang holds talks with the United States, a senior South Korean official said.
Chung Eui-yong, South Korea's presidential national security director, also said that they leaders would establish a "hotline" communication channel to lower military tensions — and they would speak together before the planned summit.
President Trump said that he welcomed the development but that it did not deter the U.S. and its position on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
"We set out a social media statement willing to go either way," Trump said. "Hopefully, it will be the proper way.
"The proper way is the way that everybody knows and everybody wants, but we are prepared to go either way."
He did praise Pyongyang's involvement in the Winter Olympics in the South last month, saying that "I think North Korea was terrific.
"They came out. They went into the Olympics. They went in with good spirits. They did well.
"Let's see if we can carry it over," Trump said. "It may not.
"It's a very tenuous situation. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens."
When a reporter noted that Trump was more hopeful than in the past, he responded: "I'd like to be optimistic, but maybe this has gone further than anyone has taken it before.
"This should have been handled a long ago. This should have been handled over years by many different administrations, not now.
"This was not the right time to handle it," the president added. "But these are the cards we were dealt.
"We're handling it properly — and, hopefully, we'll go in the very peaceful, beautiful path.
"We are prepared to go whichever path is necessary," Trump said. "I think we are having very good dialogue."
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