Trump and Xi hold phone talks on North Korea issues as tension builds

시진핑, 트럼프에 "북핵 평화적 해결 견지…美와 협조 희망"

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to warn Beijing that America would deal with North Korea by itself if necessary, a phone meeting was held.
His Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution.
Kwon Jang-ho starts us off.
Less than a week after their bilateral summit in Florida, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were on the phone to talk about North Korea once again.
According to China's foreign ministry, the two spoke on Wednesday morning, Beijing local time, with Xi expressing China's desire for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, while also calling for peaceful means to resolve the issue.
Xi added that Beijing is willing to keep communicating and coordinating with the U.S. on the issue.
Trump is said to have described last week's summit as a success and that he was looking forward to visiting China soon,... although the White House has yet to confirm the details of the call.

In any case, the call seems to have come in response to Trump's tweets a few hours earlier... that reiterated an earlier statement that the U.S. was ready to solve the North Korea issue with or without China's help.
Trump also revealed that in last week's summit, he had offered Xi better terms for a trade deal, in return for help with North Korea.
Beijing has so far not commented on that offer.

In the meantime, the U.S. continues to put pressure on Pyongyang.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and several accompanying battleships continue to make their way toward the Korean Peninsula.
The strike group, which Trump described as a "very powerful armada" on Tuesday, is said to be simply acting as a deterrant.
But Pyongyang views it as an act of aggresion, calling the move "reckless" and saying that it could lead to "catastrophic consequences."
Whether the phone call between Trump and Xi can ease tensions remains to be seen.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.

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