Trump to praise North Korea and take aim at Iran in UN General Assembly speech

South Korean president delivered a personal message to Mr Trump from Kim Jong-un

Donald Trump will take centre stage at the United Nations this week as he addresses the organisation's General Assembly and chairs a meeting of the Security Council focused on counterproliferation.

A year ago, the US leader stood at the international rostrum and derided North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "little rocket man" and threatened to "totally destroy" the secretive communist state.

Ahead of this week's event, aides have suggested he is likely to promote his decision to engage North Korea in negotiations about nuclear arms.

"It was a different world," Mr Trump said earlier this week of his one-time moniker for the North Korean leader. "That was a dangerous time. This is one year later, a much different time."

He also praised Mr Kim as "very open" and "terrific," despite the sluggish pace of progress towards denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a personal message to Mr Trump from Kim after their inter-Korean talks last week in Pyongyang.

"You are the only person who can solve this problem," Mr Moon told the US president, relaying Mr Kim's words.

Mr said that he expects to meet his North Korean counterpart for a second meeting soon to discuss the pariah state's development of nuclear weapons, following their first summit in Singapore earlier this summer.

Officials said that the president will try, at both the General Assembly and the Security Council, to draw a contrast between North Korea and Iran's approach to negotiations.

Trump's decision to remove the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal triggered international criticism.

At the time the White House cited Iran's support for groups such as Hezbollah and Iran's malign influence in the Middle East for the reason of withdrawal.

Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president, is also in New York for the general assembly but Mr Trump is not seeking a meeting with him.

The US president is said to be opposed to talking to Mr Rouhani, even if Iran requests a session with him.

Another tough round of sanctions are set to be enforced by the US against Iran in November.

Mr Trump will also continue to object to UN aid programmes, which he believes to be against American interests.

His administration ended decades of funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which helps Palestinian refugees, earlier this month.

The four days of choreographed diplomacy at the United Nations may be overshadowed by Mr Trump's domestic troubles.

News of a new US trade agreement with South Korea, which the president called "a very big deal", was drowned out as news channels focused on the fate of Brett Kavanaugh, Mr Trump's Supreme Court nominee, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Associated Press contributed to this report