Trump's Tweets "Storified"

Trump seeks to meet North Korean leader, hoping to end his deadliest arms programs

Washington, May 17 - U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had invited North Korea's leader to New York in September in a stepped-up drive to halt the North's growing nuclear and missile programs.

Trump, in a tweet, said he hoped to replace a truce that ended 1the 1950-53 Korean conflict with a full-fledged peace treaty, something Pyongyang long has sought. To this day, North and South Korea remain in a technical state of war.

Trump said he had invited Kim Jung Un to meet him during the annual United Nations General Assembly session that opens in September.

He said he had told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "to do all he can to negotiate a halt to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs as a prelude to a peace pact.."

"Meanwhile all options remain on the table to protect U.S. and its allies from North's nuclear and missiles programs," he tweeted. .

North Korea has test-launced missiles up to 2,500 miles across the Pacific, threatening U.S. military bases in Guam, despite U.N. security Council sanctions aimed at ending its deadliest arms programs.

The North's ultimate aim, Washington contends, is to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could hit the United States.

There was no immediate reply from Pyongyang to Trump's latest tweets.