North Korean missile launches over the past week have not affected Donald Trump’s relationship with Kim Jong Un, the US president said Friday, in a change of course after initially expressing his dissatisfaction.

Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles Thursday following an earlier drill the previous Saturday — the first in 18 months.

The North had not launched any missiles since November 2017, shortly before Kim embarked on diplomatic overtures.

“I don’t consider that a breach of trust at all. And, you know, at some point I may. But at this point no,” Trump said in an interview with Politico.

“These were short-range missiles and very standard stuff. Very standard.”

Twenty-four hours earlier, however, Trump showed his irritation and impatience on an issue where he hopes to succeed while all his predecessors — Republicans and Democrats — have failed.

“Nobody’s happy about it,” he told reporters, in reaction to the launches.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump added. “I know they want to negotiate, they’re talking about negotiating. But I don’t think they are ready to negotiate.”

Source: AFP