Trump: ‘Good chance’ North Korean leader will do right thing

WASHINGTON — Responding to news of a surprise meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and China’s Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he was looking forward to his own meeting with Kim, saying there was a “good chance” the dictator “will do what is right for his people and for humanity.”

In a pair of tweets, Trump touched upon his upcoming high- stakes meeting with Kim, which will focus on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear missile program.

“For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility,” Trump tweeted. “Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!”

A date has not yet been set for the summit. Meanwhile, Kim’s secretive meeting with Xi in Beijing this week was kept under wraps by officials in those countries until talks concluded, and was widely viewed as an effort by North Korea to demonstrate to the United States its close ties with China.

Trump said Xi told him his meeting with Kim “went very well and that Kim looks forward to his meeting with me,” Trump continued. “In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!”

Chinese state media reported that Kim told Xi that North Korea is “committed to denuclearization on the peninsula” so long as South Korea and the United States “respond to our efforts with goodwill,” and “create an atmosphere of peace and stability.”

Kim, according to Chinese media outlet Xinhua, said his visit to Beijing was part of a broader “strategic choice . . . to pass on and develop friendship with China under the new situation.”

SEE PHOTOS13 moments that tell the story of Trump's first year