Trump: New summit with North Korea's Kim 'pretty soon'
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters/ AFP) – US President Donald Trump hailed North Korea's ''terrific'' leader Kim Jong Un on Monday and said he should soon be able to announce a second summit with his one-time arch foe.
''We obviously talked about North Korea, where we're making tremendous progress,'' Trump told reporters after talks with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in.
''Chairman Kim has been really very open and terrific, frankly, and I think he wants to see something happen,'' added Trump who is in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.
''I think within a fairly short period of time that (summit) will be announced. It will be location to be determined but we're both very much looking forward to having it.
Moon met with Kim for a third time last week. He said he brought Trump a personal message from the North Korean leader saying he was hoping to meet with the US president again soon.
Trump and Kim met for an unprecedented summit on June 12, and Trump has been keen on a second meeting, even though some US officials and most analysts say Pyongyang has yet to show it is prepared to give up a nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a news briefing earlier on Monday he hoped to travel back to North Korea before the end of the year to make final preparations for a second summit, which he said he was “confident” would happen.
“I expect I’ll be traveling to Pyongyang before too long,” he said.
Asked if that would be before the end of the year, he replied: “Yes. Lord willing, I’ll be traveling before the end of the year.”
Pompeo said he was optimistic that Kim would deliver on his pledge to denuclearize, but this would take time.
“We’re bringing the two senior leaders, the individuals who can actually make the decisions that will move this process forward, bring them together so we can continue to make progress towards what the UN Security Council has demanded and what Chairman Kim has promised he would do.
“That’s the effort. There remains work to be done. There will be some time before we get to complete denuclearization for sure.”