North Korea and South Korea pledged Friday to sign a peace treaty between the two countries, which technically are still at war.

US President Donald Trump tweeted enthusiastically about the prospect of the Korean War ending, saying the US "should be very proud."

He also credited China's Xi Jinping for his "great help" in the matter.

The US president has appeared to take credit for North and South Korea's warming relations in the past.



US President Donald Trump on Friday credited China's Xi Jinping for his "great help" in North Korea's pledge to bring peace to the Korean peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Friday and pledged to work toward denuclearization and to sign a peace treaty between the two countries, which have technically remained at war since the 1950s.

"KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!" Trump tweeted after the Koreas' pledges of peace.

He later added: "Please do not forget the great help that my good friend, President Xi of China, has given to the United States, particularly at the Border of North Korea. Without him it would have been a much longer, tougher, process!"

Trump has appeared to take credit for the warming relations between North and South Korea in the past. Last week he told reporters that the two Koreas "do have my blessing to discuss the end of the war."

He has also pressured China — North Korea's largest trading partner — to persuade Pyongyang to stop carrying out missile tests and nuclear development programmes.

While he has called China "helpful" in the US's efforts to bring peace to the Korean peninsula, he has also blamed the country when Kim issued new provocations.

After North Korea claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb, Trump tweeted that Kim's regime had become an "embarrassment to China, which is trying to help with little success." Later that year he also said he was "disappointed" that China was still allowing oil to enter North Korea.

Kim made a surprise visit to China last month and is expected to meet Trump in the coming weeks.