THE United States should stop threatening North Korea and instead assure leader Kim Jong-Un that there are no plans to oust him, President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump next month.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Tokyo on a two-day official visit, Duterte said he would deal with the tough-talking Trump “in the most righteous way” when they meet next month to discuss regional security and Manila’s war on drugs, adding he and the US president “move our mouths in the same cadence.”
Duterte said the US, Japan, China and South Korea should sit down with the North Korean leader to tackle Pyongyang’s weapons development and missile tests.
North Korea will be high on the agenda when the leaders of the four nations meet their Southeast Asian counterparts in Manila next month, Duterte said.
“Tell him nobody’s threatening him, that there will be no war,” Duterte said, referring to the North Korean leader.
“If you can just tone down or stand down, stop the threats, that will be the same for America, just to assure him that nobody is after you.”
Duterte, who met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, has strongly backed Trump’s line on Pyongyang, repeatedly saying he favors pressure over dialog to resolve the issue.
Aside from the developments over the Korean peninsula, Duterte will likewise be talking with Trump on terrorism, cooperation between the two countries and the fight against drugs.
Duterte and Trump are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Leaders Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10 to 11.
Trump will also fly to Manila on Nov. 12 to 14 to grace the Association Southeast Asian Nations’ forum.
Duterte and Trump’s first face-to-face meeting, however, is yet to be finalized: Whether it will be held in Vietnam or in Manila given their “complicated schedules.”
Duterte had previously described Kim as a “fool” and “a son of a bitch” for “playing with dangerous toys.”
