Trump says North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is ‘obviously a pretty smart cookie’
‘He’s dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others. And at a very young age, he was able to assume power’
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US President Donald Trump offered some backhanded praise for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, calling him “a pretty smart cookie” in a television interview that aired Sunday.
Trump’s almost admiring remarks came amid soaring tensions with North Korea over its missile and nuclear programmes, with an alarmed Washington looking to China for help in reining in Kim.
Trump said he had “no idea” whether Kim was sane or not, but said the North Korean leader had faced a formidable challenge in taking over the country at a reported age of 27 after his father’s death in 2011.
“He’s dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others. And at a very young age, he was able to assume power,” Trump said in the interview with CBS’s Face the Nation.
“A lot of people, I’m sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it.
“But we have a situation that we just cannot let - we cannot let what’s been going on for a long period of years continue,” Trump added.
North Korea has kept the West on edge for weeks over signs it may conduct a sixth nuclear test, punctuated by a series of missile tests that have aroused US fears that the regime may be close to developing a ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.
The North, defying mounting US pressure, launched its latest missile test on Saturday, which South Korea said failed.
Trump refused comment on whether the United States had anything to do with the missile test failure.
“It is a chess game. I just don’t want people to know what my thinking is. So eventually, he will have a better delivery system. And if that happens, we can’t allow it to happen.”
Hours before the North Korean test, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned of “catastrophic consequences” if the international community does not act more forcefully to sanction Pyongyang.
On Sunday, the two allies concluded a massive annual military exercise called “Foal Eagle,” which involved around 20,000 South Korean and 10,000 US troops.
If North Korea carries out a nuclear test, Trump told CBS, “I would not be happy.”
“And I can tell you also, I don’t believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either,” Trump said.
Asked if “not happy” signified “military action,” Trump answered: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”
