Trump up for 'hamburger talk' with Kim Jong-un

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Fri, April 27, 2018 | 13:26

Trump up for 'hamburger talk' with Kim Jong-un

Posted : 2016-06-16 13:35

Updated : 2016-06-17 14:49

Donald Trump

By Ko Dong-hwan

Kim Jong-un

Presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump is prepared to talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "over a hamburger" about giving up his nuclear weapons program.

At a rally in Atlanta on Wednesday, Trump said he would negotiate directly with Kim.

"Who the hell cares? I'll speak to anybody. Who knows?" Trump said, according to United Press International. He said the negotiation would not include formal state relations.

"I wouldn't go there, that I can tell you," Trump said. "If he came here, I'd accept him, but I wouldn't give him a state dinner like we do for China and all these other people that rip us off when we give them these big state dinners.

"We give them state dinners like you've never seen. We shouldn't have dinners at all. We should be eating a hamburger on a conference table, and we should make better deals with China and others."

Trump said the odds of successfully persuading Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and long-range missiles are "low," with a 10 to 20 percent chance.

Trump suggested in an interview in May that South Korea and Japan should build nuclear arsenals so the United States would not have to offer protection on their behalf.

His speech to supporters in Atlanta showed his May stance still holds.

aoshima11@ktimes.com