Donald Trump will invite Kim Jong Un to US if summit goes well
US President Donald Trump says inviting Kim Jong Un to the White House would be "well received" by the North Korean leader.
Friday 8 June 2018 04:27, UK
Donald Trump says he will invite Kim Jong Un to the US if their summit in Singapore is a success.
The US president is due to meet the North Korean leader in face-to-face talks next Tuesday over the Pyongyang regime's nuclear weapons programme.
In a news conference with the Japanese prime minister in Washington, Mr Trump was asked if he would host Kim at the White House or at his Mar a Lago resort in Florida.
"Maybe we'll start with the White House," he replied.
Asked if he would invite Kim to the US at the summit, Mr Trump said: "Certainly if it goes well and I think it would be well received. I think he would look on it very favourably."
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But the president said he was "totally prepared to walk" if things did not go well.
"I hope the upcoming meeting in Singapore represents the beginning of a bright new future for North Korea and indeed a bright new future for the world," he said.
Mr Trump said he had received a "warm" letter from Kim ahead of the summit and he hoped to pursue normalising relations with North Korea.
The president also insisted he would raise the issue of Japanese abductees at the request of the country's PM Shinzo Abe.
Mr Abe told reporters that he had a "detailed and candid exchange of views" with Mr Trump and the president "fully understands" the need to bring home at least a dozen Japanese citizens detained in North Korea.
Mr Trump and Kim Jong Un are due to meet at the Capella Hotel on the Singaporean resort island of Sentosa.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said Mr Trump was going into the summit with his "eyes wide open" and the only result the president will accept is the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
"(Kim) has indicated to me personally that he is willing to denuclearise," Mr Pompeo said.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Trump said he did not need to prepare "very much" for the summit because the outcome depends more on "attitude".
He also insisted the meeting would be "much more than a photo-op".
Speaking in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: "I don't think I have to prepare very much.
"It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done."
Mr Trump also revealed he will not play golf with Mr Kim during his trip and denied reports that former basketball star Dennis Rodman would make an appearance.
"I like him," Mr Trump said of Rodman. "He's a nice guy. No, he was not invited."
Former Chicago Bulls player Rodman has visited North Korea five times after forming an unlikely friendship with the country's dictator.