President of the United States Donald Trump on Saturday said he supports the talks between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea on the upcoming Olympic Games and advocates that they lead to something more. Broadcast his speech was conducted by the White House.
“Now they are talking about the Olympic Games, this is the beginning, a great start,” he said after a meeting at his country residence Camp David with members of his cabinet and Republican leaders in Congress. “If these negotiations turn into something, it will be fine for all of humanity,” he added.
“I would like them to take part in the Olympics and then this would lead to something else, so I support this [the negotiations] 100%,” the American leader continued, according to which the contacts would not exist, if not for the pressure exerted by the US on Pyongyang. He also expressed the hope that the talks “will lead to something much greater.”
Trump added that Washington is ready to take part in the talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. “And when the time is right, we will take part, but I like the idea that the discussion of the Olympics is going on between the two countries,” Trump said.
The journalists who were at Camp David asked the president if he was ready to hold a telephone conversation with the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-no. “Of course, I always believe in dialogue,” he replied.
The leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, in his New Year’s address, announced the readiness of the authorities of the country to send their athletes to the Winter Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang. In response, South Korean President Mun Zhe Ying instructed his government to begin preparations for talks with the DPRK about its possible participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The Republic of Korea and the DPRK on January 3 restored a special communication line in the village of Panmunjom on the joint border. On January 5, the Ministry of the Republic of Korea announced that Pyongyang had accepted Seoul’s proposal to hold high-level talks for the first time since December 2015. They must pass on 9 January in Panmunjom.
It is expected that the topic of consultations will be the possible participation of the DPRK team in the upcoming winter Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang.
