Trump: We Will Disarm North Korea

In a meeting with the North Korean leader, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, emphasized in an exclusive interview with Voice of America on Tuesday, June 12, that North Korea will be disarmed. Mr. Trump stated in an interview with Greta Van Susteren, a journalist from Voice of America, in Singapore: "We will disarm North Korea... and this process will begin immediately." According to the U.S. President, "Kim really wants to sign a deal, he wants to do something." He added: "The reason he wants to sign a deal is that we are people of action, we are people of action and we will act, I think we signed a document today that is bigger and better and more comprehensive than anything others thought." On Tuesday, the U.S. President met with Kim Jong Un, the young leader of North Korea, in front of cameras from around the world, a meeting that many experts and analysts deemed "historic." In six decades of hostility between the U.S. and North Korea, the leaders of the two countries had never met. The outcome of this meeting was a document emphasizing four points: "The commitment of the two countries to establish new relations, the joint effort of the two countries to establish lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea's commitment to work towards the complete denuclearization of this peninsula, and the commitment of both countries to locate and exchange the remains of prisoners and war captives from the Korean War." The U.S. President emphasized in the interview with Voice of America that U.S. forces present in South Korea will "remain in the country." He also reiterated, as he did in his press conference after the meeting, that he does not agree with continuing military exercises with South Korea: first due to their "provocative" nature and second due to their high costs. He said: "As long as we are negotiating in good faith, there will be no military maneuvers." Donald Trump also announced in his press conference with reporters and in his interview with Voice of America that the issue of human rights was discussed with the North Korean leader. However, he did not provide clear explanations regarding this matter and potential actions by North Korea to improve the rights of people in the country. In the interview with Voice of America, he also directly addressed the people of North Korea, stating: "I think good things are going to happen for North Korea." In the year and a few months since Donald Trump's presidency, the U.S. and North Korea have had a tumultuous relationship. Last year, North Korea had the most serious tensions with the U.S., tensions that some analysts attributed to Donald Trump's Twitter messages. On the other hand, as a result of North Korea's missile tests, the United Nations Security Council intensified sanctions against the country. Therefore, few predicted that within a few months, the two leaders would meet to negotiate with each other.