President dampens expectations on Korean deal

US President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Photos / AP file

Donald Trump moved to dampen heightened expectations of a rapid nuclear deal with North Korea, saying the issue was far from over.

Excitement at the prospect of an end to tensions with the rogue state have risen ever since Trump stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Kim Jong Un, the country's leader.

At the weekend, Pyongyang announced it was suspending weapons tests and closing its nuclear testing site.

"Wow, we haven't given up anything and they have agreed to denuclearisation (so great for world), site closure, and no more testing," was Trump's immediate response.

But today the American President sounded an uncharacteristic note of caution on Twitter, a marked turnaround from his earlier claim of victory.

Trump wrote: "We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won't - only time will tell."

In fact, Kim had not included a promise to rid his country of existing nuclear weapons, and analysts remained doubtful he would give up the missiles he believed guaranteed his regime's survival.

Trump's comments reportedly surprised White House officials, who had expected some kind of confidence-building words before the planned summit.

They expressed their scepticism to the Washington Post, suggesting Kim was offering modest pledges to create the "illusion" that he was open to negotiation but which could easily be reversed.

Regional experts suggested Trump would do well to point out that North Korea was unlikely to give up its weapons after spending decades developing a deterrent.

Nam Sung Wook, a professor of North Korean Studies at Korea University in Seoul, said: "North Korea has a long history of raising the issue of denuclearisation and has committed to freeze its nuclear weapons programmes in the past.

"We all remember how those pledges and commitments went down over past decades."

However, the current rapprochement still marks a stark change from last year, when the two leaders swapped insults and threatened war.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Trump will ask Kim to dismantle the country's nukes without conceding ground on sanctions.

"When the President says that he will not make the mistakes of the past, that means the US will not be making substantial concessions, such as lifting sanctions, until North Korea has substantially dismantled its nuclear programmes," a senior Trump Administration official told the newspaper.

President Trump will ask North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal before the US will talk about lifting sanctions, the Wall Street Journal says https://t.co/IqMp47D2c4 pic.twitter.com/ou2Lpo7sJf

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 23, 2018

“A unified, democratic Korea aligned with the U.S. will be dangerous to the Communist regime in China" https://t.co/yEGVEP4cOk

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 22, 2018