Trump says he has 'great' relationship with Kim Jong-un, calls N. Korea 'nuclear power'

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has a "great" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, while also describing the reclusive state as a "nuclear power."

Trump reiterated his willingness to reengage talks with the regime's leader.

Lee Seung-jae has more.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he still has a "great" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, adding that the two "got along great" during his first term in office.

During a press conference at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump also said that had he not been elected for his first term there would have been a nuclear war with North Korea.

"Well, I would I had a great relationship with Kim Jong-un, North Korea. If I wasn't elected, If Hillary got in, you would have had a nuclear war with North Korea. He expected it. He expected it. And they said, 'oh, thousands of people, no millions of people would have been killed.' But I got in. We went to Singapore, we met, we went to Vietnam, we met, we got along really good. We had a very good relationship. And we still do."

Trump also referred to Kim and his regime as a "nuclear power," a term U.S. officials had mostly refrained from publicly using.

It's also not the first time the U.S. leader has used the term to describe the reclusive state, using the term to refer to North Korea shortly after his inauguration on January 20th.

Trump also stressed his desire to bring down the number of nuclear weapons in the world, while pointing out Pyongyang's sizable nuclear stockpile.

Despite having met Kim after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Trump also credited the success of the sporting event to his relations with the North Korean leader, saying that no one wanted to buy tickets to the Olympics, for fear of being "nuked."

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.