Critics hit at Trump’s moves on N. Korea after DMZ visit
WASHINGTON : President Donald Trump has returned from a historic, impromptu stop on North Korean soil to attacks from Democrats and suggestions of a rift within his administration, with critics saying he is normalising a nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
Mr Trump walked a few paces across the Demilitarized Zone on Sunday to greet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a day after the US leader proposed a meeting over Twitter.
Mr Trump, the first sitting US President to enter North Korea, said it was an "honour" to step across the 66-year-old military divide, while Pyongyang's state media lauded the day as "amazing".
Mr Trump said he and Mr Kim agreed to start working-level talks on a denuclearisation deal, ending a standstill since their second summit in Hanoi in late February ended without an agreement.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters as he flew back that the talks would start "probably around the middle of the month".
NUCLEAR FREEZE?
The New York Times, which did not identify its sources, said the Trump administration was considering an accord that would freeze but not dismantle North Korea's nuclear program, effectively accepting it as a nuclear state and acknowledging that it will not budge further.
Mr John Bolton, Mr Trump's National Security Advisor, denied the report and said he and his staff had never heard of the idea of settling for a nuclear freeze.
"This was a reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the President. There should be consequences," Mr Bolton tweeted.- AFP
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