WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump has said he won't rush negotiations with North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, comparing the process to cooking a turkey.
Speaking late Wednesday at a rally in Fargo, North Dakota, Trump touted his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that yielded a commitment to work towards "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula.
"We were very close to going to war. You could have lost 30 million people, 50 million people," he said of the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "I had the meeting. We had a great relationship. We had a great chemistry together."
US President Donald Trump (AFP)
Critics have lamented that the summit was short on details including how and over what time period North Korea would denuclearize.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leading negotiations to flesh out the deal. On Thursday the Financial Times reported that he plans to travel to Pyongyang next week.
"And so, we have things cooking now. You're going to be so happy," Trump told the rally. "But when people rush it -- you know, it's like rushing the turkey out of the stove. It's not going to be as good.
"But here's what we do. The more they rush, the worse it's going to be. The longer we take, the better. Your farmers, your people are going to be great," he said.
The Trump administration earlier called for quick denuclearization. But the North has insisted on a "phased and synchronous" process that would likely involve concessions from the US. (Yonhap)
