Trump happy if N.Korea doesn’t test weapons; peace deal a possibility

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

The two leaders pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but their vague agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

As Mr. Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned Mr. Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties.

Mr. Trump, speaking in Washington on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, said he believed he saw eye to eye with Mr. Kim and that they had developed “a very, very good relationship”.

“I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody,” Mr. Trump said.

“I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy.”

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test, its sixth, in September 2017. It last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up the nuclear weapons programme, which combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But in recent days, Mr. Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation.