She said that “however unpredictable the [Trump] administration’s stance may have seemed”, the US President’s strategy had “changed the narrative and changed the status quo”. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prepares to shake hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Credit:AP “It’s as a result of his [Mr Trump's] intervention that China has become more active in this issue and the UN Security Council was able to achieve the widest-ranging set of sanctions that have ever been imposed against North Korea," Ms Bishop said. "That economic and political pressure has clearly had an impact in terms of bringing North Korea to the negotiating table today and talks of meeting with the US president. “There is no doubt in my mind, and I’ve been consistent about this … that the change in narrative has had an impact.” Ms Bishop and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expressed cautious optimism about the talks, noting that North Korea had broken promises before. Both stressed the heavy economic sanctions needed to remain in place.

“We have had false dawns before on the Korean peninsula, so that’s why it’s really important to maintain the pressure of the sanctions,” Mr Turnbull said. “But the goal is denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.” Mr Trump has said he will meet with Mr Kim for further talks - the first time leaders of their respective nations have met face-to-face. This meeting will most likely take place in Singapore in late May or June. It represents a stunning turnaround from late last year when a US military attack on North Korea was a growing possibility and Mr Trump was deriding Mr Kim with insults such as “Little Rocket Man” on Twitter. US intelligence reports estimate North Korea has 20 to 60 nuclear weapons. Last year it tested ballistic missiles that were capable of hitting the United States or Australia. Ms Bishop would not comment in detail on how the negotiations should unfold, including whether the US and its allies should accept a step-by-step process in which each side makes small concessions in turn, or should demand North Korea demonstrably reverse its nuclear program before receiving anything in return.

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Seoul is reportedly prepared to consider a step-by-step approach but the Trump administration is demanding a quick and total nuclear disarmament. Ms Bishop said North Korea’s gestures would clearly have to be “more than a statement that they are ceasing testing”. “The international community would need to see concrete action towards denuclearisation rather than taking North Korea’s word for it.” She said North Korea was at the table because of the economic sanctions but also the military threats.

“Today’s summit indicates that the international community’s concerted campaign of maximum economic, political and diplomatic pressure has worked to bring North Korea to the negotiating table but there’s no doubt North Korea would have been concerned about possible military action,” she said. The Lowy Institute’s director of international security, Euan Graham, who has previously been a diplomat in North Korea, said while the prospects of conflict had significantly receded, he remained “extremely cautious” that Pyongyang was willing to fully dismantle its nuclear program. He said the advanced state of the nuclear program meant Mr Kim was now “taking it to market at peak value”, continuing a pattern in which North Korea has made provocations and then used the tensions to extract concessions. Dr Graham said Mr Kim would most likely bargain with part of his program while seeking to leave some of it intact - a position the US might have to accept. He said the step-by-step approach of trading concession on each side had not worked before.