U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States is engaging in dialogue with North Korea to replace the specter of conflict with a bold and new push of peace. 

President Trump made the remark in his speech on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly in New York. 

Trump also thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his courage and for the steps taken for nuclear disarmament, drawing a stark contrast to his threat to “totally destroy” the North at the UN General Assembly a year earlier when the North Korean nuclear crisis was at its peak. 

President Trump also thanked other countries for their assistance in engaging with the North, particularly giving credit to President Moon Jae-in, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

He emphasized, however, that sanctions on the North will remain in place until the regime's denuclearization is complete.