His comments come as the US are considering listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and amid fears Kim Jong-un will order the detonation of another nuclear blast in a show of force during Trump’s visit to the South.
Sending a tweet from Tokyo, the first leg of his five-nation Asia tour, Trump said: “Getting ready to leave for South Korea and meetings with President Moon, a fine gentleman. We will figure it all out!”
The firebrand Republican will meet with US and South Korean service members at Camp Humphreys, a US base south of Seoul during his two-day visit to the nation and hold a summit with President Moon, where it is expected the pair will introduce a more detailed action plan to increase pressure on North Korea.
President Trump also will make a historic speech before South Korea’s National Assembly.
Sending a tweet from Tokyo, the first leg of his five-nation Asia tour, Trump said: “Getting ready to leave for South Korea and meetings with President Moon, a fine gentleman. We will figure it all out!”
The firebrand Republican will meet with US and South Korean service members at Camp Humphreys, a US base south of Seoul during his two-day visit to the nation and hold a summit with President Moon, where it is expected the pair will introduce a more detailed action plan to increase pressure on North Korea.
President Trump also will make a historic speech before South Korea’s National Assembly.
They will also discuss how to maintain the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, which is said to be a costly measure despite tensions with the North.
Speaking ahead of the US President’s visit, Van Jackson, a strategy fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand said more “heated rhetoric” against North Korea is expected.
He said: ”Trump’s visit is a huge variable. It’s a great opportunity to show a unity of purpose against North Korea and reinforce the larger US commitment to Asia, but there’s also a risk of provoking North Korea.
”We should brace for more heated rhetoric and some attempt to reassure South Korea. For most Presidents, those tasks would not be mutually exclusive. The problem is Trump’s the wild card, not the reassurance guy.”
While in Japan, the US President described North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme as a “threat to the civilised world as he repeated an earlier statement vowing that the “era of strategic patience is over”.
During Trump’s visit, dozens of US and South Korea marines are said to be taking part in joint drills just south of the tense Korean border on the islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong.
The drills, according to Seoul-based news agency Yonhap News, will include a mock attack by North Korea – a doomsday scenario which the US and South Korea are determined to be ready for.
The news agency said: “They have simulated a North Korean attack on the islands for the drill held in cooperation with fighter jets and ground forces.
“It’s focused on enhancing combined air power in the Korean Marine Exchange Program, joined by more than 50 South Korean marines and around 30 US marines belonging to the 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force, stationed in Okinawa.”
South Korea’s Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo added: ”The South Korean and US Marine Corps are a classic model of the two countries’ alliance.
“The strong combined power and camaraderie of the two sides are a reliable force to defend the Republic of Korea from the enemy.”
Three US aircraft carrier strike groups will also take part in separate exercises in the Western Pacific in another show of force.