Donald Trump praises 'very honourable' North Korean despot Kim Jong Un

Donald Trump has praised North Korean despot Kim Jong Un as “very honourable” as he said the dictator wants to hold a meeting with him as soon as possible.

The US president has previously dismissed Kim as “Little Rocket Man”, but has softened his rhetoric ahead of a planned summit between the two leaders in May or June.

He said the countries were having “good discussions” after Kim signalled North Korea could scale back its nuclear programme.

"We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible. We think that's a great thing for the world," Mr Trump said at the White House alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.

He added: "Kim Jong Un, he really has been very open and I think very honourable from everything we're seeing."

However, Mr Trump again suggested that he would "leave the table" if the negotiations were not productive or if North Korea was not operating in good faith.

“We'll see where that all goes," he said. "Maybe it will be wonderful or maybe it won't."

Mr Trump later sidestepped a question as to why he would use the word "honourable" to describe Kim, who has been accused of starving his own people, executing his political opponents and ordering the killing of a member of his own family.

The comments came days after a flurry of moves from North Korea that the White House was anxious to promote as signs that its coercion campaign was working.

On Saturday, North Korea announced it will close its nuclear testing facility and suspend nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests - a move welcomed by Trump as "big progress."

However, the North stopped short of suggesting it will give up its nuclear weapons - as Mr Trump suggested in a weekend tweet - or scale back its production of missiles and their related components.

When pressed on what he meant by the goal of "denuclearisation," Trump said "It means they get rid of their nukes. Very simple."

"It would be easy for me to make a simple deal and declare victory. I don't want to do that," the president said.

This week, US-allied South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim will hold a summit in the demilitarized zone between the Koreas that could lay the ground for Trump's planned meeting with the North Korean dictator. The leaders of the US and North Korea have never met during six decades of hostility since the Korean War.

Last year, the US spearheaded through the U.N. Security Council the toughest international sanctions yet against North Korea in response to three long-range missile launches and its most powerful nuclear test explosion yet. The Trump administration supplemented those restrictions with unilateral U. sanctions against firms that had conducted illicit trade with the North.

This year, Kim has pivoted from confrontation to diplomacy and, according to South Korea and China, has expressed a commitment to denuclearization. There is still uncertainty about what he seeks in return.