Another Trump-Kim summit 'could be soon'

Pyongyang, Washington expected to resume nuclear talks in 2 to 3 weeks

UNITED NATIONS - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a fourth summit with Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, "could happen soon" as diplomacy over Pyongyang's nuclear program has stalled.

Trump didn't elaborate in comments to reporters at the United Nations in New York, and it was not clear if concrete plans were in the works for another summit.

There is extreme interest, especially in Japan and the Republic of Korea, in whether Trump and Kim can settle differences that have led to the stalemate despite past high-profile meetings.

At the heart of the dispute is the DPRK's desire for relief from harsh sanctions imposed following boosts in its nuclear and missile capabilities. Washington, however, is demanding that Pyongyang first take more comprehensive steps to dismantle a nuclear program that has been built over decades.

In recent months, the DPRK has displayed its unhappiness with the tough US stance in a series of short-range missile tests that experts see as an attempt to increase pressure on Washington and Seoul and build leverage ahead of any new talks.

Trump has repeatedly played down the tests of missiles that could strike allies ROK and Japan, which host tens of thousands of US troops. The US president has also has trumpeted the strength of his relationship with Kim.

Trump was the first sitting US president to meet with a DPRK top leader and to set foot on the DPRK's territory when he took a few steps across the border at the Demilitarized Zone in June.

As he arrived at the UN for the start of the annual General Assembly of world leaders, Trump responded to a question about when he planned to meet with Kim, saying: "It could happen soon. It could happen soon."

Trump also met ROK President Moon Jae-in in New York on Monday. Moon's office said the two leaders exchanged opinions on how to produce substantial progress in the working-level US-DPRK talks and reaffirmed their resolve to improve ties with Pyongyang and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Private briefing

On Tuesday, the ROK's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a private briefing in Seoul that nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang will likely resume within two to three weeks, according to one of the lawmakers who attended the session.

The spy agency gave its assessment on the prospect for the stalled nuclear diplomacy, hours after Trump said another meeting with Kim "could happen soon".

According to Kim Min-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing, the agency also told lawmakers that another Trump-Kim summit could occur this year if the two countries report progress from those working-level nuclear negotiations.

Choe Son-hui, first vice-foreign minister of the DPRK, had proposed a meeting with the US side in late September, according to a statement reported earlier this month by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

An unnamed official from the DPRK Foreign Ministry called the upcoming working-level negotiations with the US "decisive" for future DPRK-US dialogue.

The talks between the US and the DPRK have been stalled since the summit meeting between Kim and Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, in late February.

In recent days, however, Pyongyang has praised Trump for saying Washington may pursue an unspecified "new method" in nuclear negotiations as well as for his decision to fire hawkish John Bolton as his national security adviser.

Pyongyang also has hinted that some sort of diplomacy could soon resume, but it says it will not consider abandoning its nuclear weapons unless external threats are removed. It says annual US-ROK military drills and the huge presence of US troops in the Korean Peninsula are proof of US hostility toward Pyongyang.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 09/25/2019 page11)