Washington DC (670 KBOI News) – A day after the summit meeting between President Trump and North Korean dictator, Chairman Kim Jong Un, Idaho Senator Jim Risch says it was a good first step, but now the work starts toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

On a conference call with Idaho reporters, he said they have to be careful in their negotiations, because North Korea has made agreements with the U-S before, only to back out later.

“I’m more hopeful, I guess, than confident,” said Risch.  “We’ve had a bad history with this country, they have said they want to change their ways, do things differently, and if they want to do that, we should be a willing partner, to help them get there.  But this remains to be seen.”

As the chairman of the Senate National Security Working Group, Risch and a number of other senators will be in on future negotiations with North Korea, acting in an advisory role.  He says the negotiating team will be the ones doing the talking.

But Risch says make no mistake, this is a historic event, despite the President’s critics downplaying the significance of Tuesday’s meeting.

“I’ve said that if Barrack Obama had taken this to where it is now, the Left would be calling for the stone masons to put his head as the fifth head on Mount Rushmore,” said Risch.  “They’re not going to give President Trump credit for this, but the important thing is we get to an agreement that both sides are happy with, that denuclearizes the Korean Peninsula, and moves us forward in a peaceful situation.”

He says it’s very important that Trump says he will get Congressional approval of whatever agreement that may be reached, before signing on to it.