TOKYO, Nov 8 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump denounced North Korea's nuclear adventurism and "cruel dictatorship," warning it not to "underestimate" US strength, Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.
In his speech to South Korea's National Assembly, Trump also reiterated his mantra of "peace through strength" and called on China, Russia and the world to join efforts to isolate the "brutal regime." "The regime has interpreted America's past restraint as weakness. This would be a fatal miscalculation," the president was quoted as saying. The speech, the first by a US leader to the South Korean parliament in 24 years, was delivered one day after he held a summit with President Moon Jae-in.
In a news conference after the summit, he toned down his rhetoric toward the North, calling for it to "come to the table" and "make a deal. In his parliamentary speech, he also apparently held out the prospect of engagement with the North, though on strict conditions.
"We will offer a path to a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles, and complete, verifiable, and total denuclearization," he said.
Trump arrived in Seoul Tuesday for a two-day state visit. He is on his first Asia trip, which also includes visits to Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, with the North's nuclear threats atop his policy agenda.
He also used the speech to call for the international community to join efforts towards the North's denuclearization. "We call on every nation, including China and Russia, to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions, downgrade diplomatic relations with the regime, and sever all ties of trade and technology." (end) mk.mb