Washington: Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be finding some friends in North Korea. The billionaire said that he would invite the east Asian country’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un to the US if he became President.
Trump, however, said that he will not host any state dinner to honour the head of state. The state dinner is basically hosted by a head of state in his/her official residence in order to boost the diplomatic ties.
“If he came here, I’d accept him. I’ll speak to anybody,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Atlanta.
“We shouldn’t be having state dinners at all. We should be eating a hamburger on a conference table and making better deals,” Trump added.
The business mogul made the remark on Wednesday when he mocked his Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton for her criticism of Trump's willingness to speak with Kim, calling the former secretary of state a "rank amateur".
"She's been doing it forever and she still doesn't get it," Trump said.
"What the hell is wrong with speaking? And you know what? It's called opening a dialogue. It's opening a dialogue," Trump added.
Trump further said he wouldn’t go to North Korea for the meeting, but that he would meet with him if he came to the US, even though the two countries don’t have diplomatic relations.
"But there's nothing -- I wouldn't go there," he said.
Trump had in past hailed Jong-un as 'incredible' for rising to power in North Korea after the death of his father in 2011.
“You've got to give him credit,” Trump had said at a campaign rally in Iowa in January.
North Korea was condemned by world powers recently after putting a satellite in orbit in what many believe was a disguised ballistic missile test. Pyongyang has vowed to launch more satellites, despite worsening ties between itself and China, as well as the rest of the world.
The launch breached United Nations resolutions and is likely to lead to more trade sanctions, however these have little effect on the North Korean government as they do very little business with the outside world.
