Trump voices confidence North Korea won’t conduct missile test amid talks

President Trump said on Saturday that he believes that North Korea will honor a “commitment” to cease its weapons testing while the prospect of talks with the U.S. are on the table.

“North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!” Trump tweeted.

North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2018

{mosads}

Trump agreed on Thursday to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks by the end of May. If those plans move forward, it would make Trump the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a leader of North Korea.

South Korea said earlier this week that the North was willing to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal, and had agreed not to conduct any further weapons tests while talks with the U.S. were underway.

North Korea conducted its most recent ballistic missile test in November, capping off a series of launches that sent tensions between Pyongyang and Washington to an all-time high.

But the North has more recently signaled an eagerness to defuse tensions with the U.S. and South Korea with a series of diplomatic overtures that began with a New Year’s Day offer to talk with South Korean officials.

While Trump has maintained the meeting will happen, the White House sought to cast the encounter as tentative on Friday and dependent on whether the North takes “concrete actions” to signal its level of seriousness about the talks.

So far, Pyongyang has telegraphed its diplomatic offers through South Korea. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Friday that the U.S. has not yet made any promises with regard to the potential meeting.

“The United States has made zero concessions, but North Korea has made some promises,” she said at a press briefing. “This meeting won’t take place without concrete actions that match the promises that have been made by North Korea.”