Joe Biden has said the United States wants to see North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, taking a veiled swipe at Donald Trump and vowing not to pander to Kim Jong-un with ‘international recognition’.
Speaking on Friday at a press conference with Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, Biden said he did not rule out meeting Kim.
But, he insisted, he would not replicate the efforts of the ‘recent past.’
Trump met face-to-face with the dictator on three occasions and exchanged what he called ‘love letters’ with the leader.
‘I would not give him all that he’s looking for,’ Biden said of Kim, namely ‘international recognition.’
Moon, who had a tumultuous relationship with Trump, praised Biden for ‘restoring the soul of America’.
Moon is only the second world leader to visit the Biden White House, after Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Biden said he and Moon would work together to tackle the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.