Talks on North Korea dominates Trump's dinner diplomacy with South Korean counterpart

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a White House dinner on Thursday and held extensive discussions on a wide range of subjects, including North Korea and a new trade deal.

Trump told Moon that he would have 'tremendous discussions" about how to deal with Kim Jong-un in denuclearizing North Korea and establish peace on the peninsula. Their summit talks will be held at the White House early Friday.

After their first ever talks, Trump tweeted

"Just finished a very good meeting with the President of South Korea. Many subjects discussed, including North Korea and new trade."

"I know you've been discussing with our people some of the complexities of North Korea and trade and other things, and we'll be discussing them all as we progress - and it could be very well late into the evening," The Washington Times quoted Trump as saying.

He added, "We very much respect you and we very much respect the people of South Korea."

Congratulating the South Korean President for his election victory, Trump said, "I'd like to also congratulate you upon your election victory. It was a great victory, and you did a fantastic job."

On the other hand, Trump administration officials have warned publicly and privately that the US is nearing an inflection point in its efforts to pressure North Korea into abandoning its bellicose behavior, suggesting that Trump might seek to crank up diplomatic and economic pressure on China which accounts for nearly 90% of North Korea's foreign trade, CNN reported.

President Donald Trump has abandoned its plan of relying on China to pressure North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons, the U.S. has finalized a $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, labeled China one of the world's worst human traffickers and imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank for doing business with North Korea.