DONALD TRUMP has said the threat of North Korea will be at the "front and centre" of discussions with South Korea during his five-nation Asia tour.
President Donald Trump flew into South Korea, the closest he has come to the frontlines of the nuclear standoff with Kim Jong-un’s secretive state, on Tuesday saying a solution must be found to the security threat posed by Pyongyang.
Landing at Osan Air Base outside Seoul, the president and First Lady Melania Trump stepped down from Air Force One onto a red carpet as he began a 24-hour visit that could aggravate tensions with North Korea.
In recent months, President Trump has criticised South Korea President Moon Jae-in over his support for diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang - something the US President once called "appeasement" - and has threatened to pull out of a free trade pact between the two countries.
The American leader said the talks would also address trade issues, including South Korea's acquisition of US defence equipment.
He then flew by helicopter to Camp Humphreys, the largest US military base in the country, and met US and South Korean troops, along with President Jae-in.
President Jae-in said he hoped his visit would be a turning point in efforts to defuse tensions over Kim's nuclear programme.
The state visit in the South Korean capital was billed as an opportunity for President Trump and Jae-in to present a united front, despite differences over how to confront the depraved regime's nuclear threat, as well as the US leader's complaints over the two countries' trade agreements.
Besides vowing to prevent the crackpot dictator from developing nuclear weapons and missiles that can effectively strike the mainland United States, President Trump has also threatened to pull out of a free trade pact between the two countries.
The White House says President Trump's trip is intended to demonstrate US resolve over his hardline approach to the North Korean nuclear and missile threats, but many in the region fear further bellicose presidential rhetoric could increase the potential for a devastating military conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Meeting with military commanders about the North Korea issue, he told reporters: "Hopefully that will start working out, and working out so that we create a lot of jobs in the United States which is one of the reasons that I'm here.
"Ultimately it will all work out, it always works out, it has to work out".
He did not elaborate.
President Trump praised president Moon, hailing him for "great cooperation," despite their differences.
Pyongyang's recent nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN resolutions and an exchange of insults between President Trump and Kimhave raised the stakes in the most critical international challenge of the leader's presidency.
The US President was greeted with applause and a few cheers as he and president Moon entered the mess hall at lunch hour.
He is seeking to ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang following his visit to Tokyo, where he declared that Japan would shoot North Korean missiles "out of the sky" if it bought the U.S. weaponry needed to do so, suggesting the Japanese government take a stance it has avoided until now.
North Korea has not conducted a missile test for 53 days, the longest such lull in testing this year. And North Korean state media has not commented on President Trump's arrival in the South.
South Korea's spy agency said last week that North Korea may be preparing another missile test, raising speculation that such a launch could be timed for President Trump's trip to the region.