WASHINGTON, Dec 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Saturday
he hoped to organize a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in
early 2019, perhaps as soon as January or February.
Trump told reporters traveling home to Washington with him aboard Air Force
One from Argentina that “three sites” were in consideration for the meeting,
a follow-up to their historic summit in Singapore in June.
When asked about a future meeting, Trump said: “I think we’re going to do
one fairly (soon) — into January, February, I think.”
Trump had been in Buenos Aires for the Group of 20 summit.
In June, Trump and Kim opened up dialogue on denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula after months of trading military threats and pointed barbs.
The two leaders signed a vaguely worded document on denuclearization of the
peninsula, but progress since has stalled as Washington and Pyongyang spar
and North Korea has taken few concrete steps to abandon its nuclear and
ballistic missile programs.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to meet with a top North Korean
official in early November, but the meeting was abruptly put off, with North
Korea insisting that Washington ease sanctions.
On Friday, Trump discussed the situation with South Korean President Moon
Jae-in on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
The pair “reaffirmed their commitment to achieve the final, fully verified
denuclearization” of North Korea, Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
They agreed on the need for “maintaining vigorous enforcement of existing
sanctions to ensure the DPRK understands that denuclearization is the only
path,” Sanders said, using the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea.
But differences have emerged between Washington and Seoul on how to proceed
with Kim, as the dovish Moon has long favored engagement with the North.
When asked Saturday if he would ever host Kim in the United States, Trump
replied: “At some point, yeah.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/1119 hrs