U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is willing to invite Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to visit the United States for further talks if their meeting in Singapore goes well.
"Maybe we'll start with the White House," Trump said at a joint press briefing at the Rose Garden of the White House with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"But certainly if it goes well. And I think it would be well received. I think he would look at it very favorably. So I think that could happen," he noted.
Speaking of his upcoming meeting with Kim, Trump said: "I think ... we're going to have a great success. I don't think it will be in one meeting. I think it will take longer than that. This has been going on for many, many decades."
Trump added that Kim's personal letter to him carried a very warm and nice "greeting," which he appreciated very much.
Noting that he believes the meeting is going to "have a terrific success or a modified success," Trump said he would like to see the normalization of bilateral ties once their mutual concerns are solved.
He added that he and Abe have agreed to help the DPRK "if the deal is done."
"We could absolutely sign an agreement," Trump said. "But that's really the beginning. Sounds a little bit strange, but that's probably the easy part; the hard part remains after that."
Speaking of the U.S. "maximum pressure" campaign against the DPRK, Trump said he would not use the term now.
He added that whether he will re-use it in the future depends on the negotiations and the "maximum pressure is absolutely in effect" currently.
"We have a list of over 300 massive, in some cases, sanctions to put on North Korea. And I've decided to hold that until we can make a deal, because I really believe there's a potential to make a deal," he said.
Trump added that he is totally and fully prepared to walk away from the Singapore meeting if it does not go well, as he did to the historic Iran nuclear deal.
"But I hope it won't be necessary," he added.
Abe said he "strongly" hopes that "this historic summit in Singapore (will) be a resounding success."
"The whole international community is strongly looking forward for the United States-North Korea summit to open doors toward peace and stability of the Northeast Asia," he said.
"Japan, based on the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration, is prepared to settle the unfortunate past, to normalize our diplomatic relations, and to provide economic cooperation. Japan wishes to play the role as much as possible."
"Japan stands ready to make every effort to assist you for the success of U.S.-North Korea summit," Abe noted, adding that "Japan and United States will be in full alignment to seek success" for the meeting.
He said that "at the upcoming summit, the importance of (the) abduction (issue) would be explained to Mr. Kim Jong Un."
Abe said that he wishes to directly face and talk with the DPRK "so that the abduction problem (can) be resolved quickly."
