Trump alludes to having “interesting information” on North Korea

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Oct. 21.

US presidents breaks silence on Pyongyang in over 2 weeks after working-level talks in Sweden

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Oct. 21.

US President Donald Trump said on Oct. 21 that he had some “interesting information on North Korea,” adding that “a lot of things are going in” in connection with it. The remarks were effectively the first made by Trump regarding North Korea since bilateral working-level talks in broke down in Sweden on Oct. 5. 

When asked during a Cabinet meeting at the White House that day about the cancellation of plans to hold next year’s G7 Summit at a resort he owned, Trump criticized the Democratic Party at length while declaring that he was doing a good job on the Syria and Turkey issues. He then abruptly changed topics to North Korea. 

“Korea ― okay, maybe someday,” he said. 

“I’ll tell you what: If somebody else became President, with that same mindset that they [the Democrats] had, you’d, right now, be in a big war with North Korea,” he continued. 

“You don’t hear too much about it. It could happen,” he said. 

“I always say, ‘Who knows?’ It’s deals. Who knows?” he added. 

Trump went on to mention to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. 

“But, in the meantime, North Korea is -- I like Kim; he likes me. We get along. I respect him; he respects me,” he said. 

“I said to [predecessor Barack Obama], ‘Did you ever call him?’ ‘No.’ Actually, he tried 11 times,” he continued. “But the man on the other side ― the gentleman on the side did not take his call.” 

“Lack of respect. But [Kim] takes my call,” he said. 

After going to discuss other issues concerning Cabinet officials and healthcare, Trump stressed that negotiations with South and North Korea and China were all going well. 

“Probably, something is going to be happening with North Korea too,” he said. 

“There’s some very interesting information on North Korea. A lot of things are going on,” he continued. 

“And that’s going to be a major rebuild at a certain point,” he added, although he did not elaborate. 

With his remarks, Trump broke a silence on North Korea issues that has lasted for over two weeks since the Stockholm talks broke down. Because they came in the context of stressing his own achievements, it remains difficult to determine their actual meaning. But with Trump’s reference to the threat of war and his emphasis on his friendly relationship with Kim Jong-un, the US president’s comments were seen as reaffirming his plans to continue pursuing dialogue with Pyongyang. His mention of telephone conversations with Kim and “interesting information” could also be seen as alluding to behind-the-scenes communication between Pyongyang and Washington. 

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent 

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