Trump praises Chinese president's 'great help' on North Korea

US President Donald Trump has hailed the "great help" that Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered in moving forward the peace process on the Korean peninsula.

"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 tweeted on Friday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the South's President Moon Jae-in signed a joint declaration on Friday agreeing to work for the "complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" following their historic summit.

During their first summit in more than a decade, the two leaders stated that they would seek an agreement to establish "permanent" and "solid" peace on the Korean peninsula.

The landmark declaration also includes pledges to pursue military arms reduction, cease "hostile acts," turn their fortified border into a "peace zone," and seek multilateral talks with other nations, such as the US.

China is North Korea's major ally but it has backed a series of US-led sanctions against Pyongyang over the country’s nuclear and missile programs.

Trump on Friday also said that Americans should be "proud" of the progress being made towards establishing peace on the Korean peninsula.

He hailed the meeting between the two Korean leaders as an end to the Korean War, which ended in 1953 when the two countries signed the ceasefire – the Korean Armistice Agreement.  

No peace deal has been signed, meaning the two Koreas remain technically at war. The US was an ally of South Korea during the war.

"After a furious year of missile launches and Nuclear testing, a historic meeting between North and South Korea is now taking place. Good things are happening, but only time will tell!" Trump tweeted.

"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!" the president added in a second message.

Trump has demanded that Pyongyang give up its weapons in what he said a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

PressTV-Korean leaders sign deal for denuclearization, peace

North Korean leader and South's president sign a joint declaration agreeing to "complete denuclearization.

North Korea has said it will only give up on its nuclear deterrence when Washington ends its hostile policy toward the country and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea. Tens of thousands of US soldiers are stationed in South Korea and Japan.

Pyongyang is reportedly demanding unspecified security guarantees to discuss its weapons arsenal.

When Kim visited China last month in his first trip abroad as the leader, official Chinese media cited him as saying that the issue could be resolved, as long as Seoul and Washington take "progressive and synchronous measures for the realization of peace."

A possible meeting between Kim and Trump is also reportedly being planned for sometime in May or June.

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