Donald Trump: Will speak with North Korea's Kim Jong Un

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, 69, said on Tuesday that he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programme, proposing a major shift in US policy towards the isolated nation.

In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, NDTV reported that Trump also called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord and said he disapproved of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in eastern Ukraine. He will seek to dismantle most of the US Dodd-Frank financial regulations if he is elected president, he added.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's remarks, reported NDTV.

He also said he would press China, Pyongyang's only major diplomatic and economic supporter, to help find a solution.

Trump's preparedness to talk directly with Kim contrasts with President Barack Obama's policy of relying on senior US officials to talk to senior North Korean officials. He did not engage personally with Kim, but pushed for new diplomatic overturns to Iran and Cuba that produced a deal with Tehran and improved ties with Havana.

CLIMATE ACCORD

Trump said he is "not a big fan" of the Paris climate accord, which prescribes reductions in carbon emissions by more than 170 countries. He said he would want to renegotiate the deal because it treats the United States unfairly and gives favorable treatment to countries like China.

He also said he has planned to release a detailed policy platform in two weeks that would propose dismantling nearly all of Dodd-Frank, a package of financial reforms put in place after the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

"Dodd-Frank is a very negative force, which has developed a very bad name," he said.

Trump took a dim view of Clinton's stated desire to put her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in charge of building up the US economy.

"The wife wants to make him in charge of the economy," he said, reported NDTV.

Clinton described Trump's idea of dismantling Dodd-Frank as reckless. "Latest reckless idea from Trump: gut rules on Wall Street, and leave middle-class families out to dry," she said on Twitter.

FINANCIAL BUBBLE?

Trump said he perceived a dangerous financial bubble in the tech start-up industry, with some companies selling shares at high valuations without ever turning a profit. These companies are valued at billions of dollars.

The New York billionaire said he would maintain the current level of benefits for Social Security recipients, a position championed by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Trump said he would not raise the retirement age or impose a sliding scale of benefits depending on income levels.

The depleted Social Security Trust Fund, Trump said, would be replenished by the increased tax revenue that would flow into the government from the higher job growth spurred by his economic policies, reported NDTV.