US President Donald Trump says North Korea has agreed to not conduct another missile test until after proposed meetings with its leader, Kim Jong-un, had taken place, as he sought to rally international support for a potential summit.
"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honour that commitment!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Trump's comments aligned with what a South Korean official had stated on Thursday about the possible talks. Trump made no mention of nuclear tests in his tweet, however.
It was not immediately clear which meetings Trump was referring to or their exact timing.
South Korean officials said earlier this week that Trump had agreed to an invitation from Kim to meet by May.
The White House has been under fire for agreeing to talks and responded to the criticism on Friday by warning that no summit would occur unless Pyongyang took "concrete actions" over its nuclear program.
Trump also took to Twitter on Saturday to characterise the leaders of China and Japan as supportive of the potential dialogue, even as he did little to clear up confusion over the timing of any talks and what preconditions would be required.
"President XI told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative," Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. "China continues to be helpful!"
Trump also tweeted on Saturday: "Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the US Currently have a massive $100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!" Trump wrote.
Late on Friday Trump wrote that a deal with North Korea "is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined."
The Twitter posts followed a news briefing by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Friday where she said Trump would not have a meeting "without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions take place by North Korea, so the president will actually be getting something".
Kim had earlier invited Trump to join him for what would be unprecedented talks between leaders of the two nations.
Sanders did not specify what actions North Korea needed to take, and a White House official later said she was not intending to set new conditions. But the comments were a sign that an end to a stand-off between the two countries over North Korea's nuclear weapon program is not imminent.
