Trump says N Korea’s Kim has responded to his request for a conversation

Trump says N Korea’s Kim has responded to his request for a conversationUS president says conversations with Kim Jong Un at a ‘positive’ stage and slams S Korea for refusing to join Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="169305" data-entity-type="event">war on Iran.United States President Donald Trump says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his recent outreach, a day after ordering the Pentagon to scale back drills with longstanding ally South Korea.When asked by reporters at the Oval Office on Monday why Kim had not responded to his request for a conversation, Trump replied, “How do you know he hasn’t responded?”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Why has North Korea fired a missile before US-South Korea drills?list 2 of 3Why did Trump scale back war games with South Korea?list 3 of 3Trump says talking to North Korea’s Kim makes the south saferend of listPressed again, Trump said, “Yeah, he has.”The US president went on to describe the exchange as “very positive”, without providing further detail.There was no immediate comment from North Korea.Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea.Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the annual drills were “not only costly … but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful”.He also linked the decision to Seoul’s refusal to help with the US-Israel Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="169305" data-entity-type="event">war on Iran.South Korea’s stance on IranTrump again criticised South Korea over the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="169305" data-entity-type="event">war on Iran on Monday.“Wait a minute,” he said at the Oval Office. “We have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbour, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That’s strange.”Trump once again called into question US support for both South Korea and NATO allies that have refused to contribute to the Iran war. “We can’t go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they’re not there to help us,” he said.