Trump receives Kim letter for new summit

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday that US President Donald Trump received a “very warm, very positive” letter from Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, asking for a second meeting, and the White House is looking at scheduling one.

“The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and are already in the process of coordinating that,” she said.

Sanders said the letter exhibited “a continued commitment to focus on denuclearization of the (Korean) peninsula”.

Kim and Trump held a landmark meeting in Singapore on June 12 that raised the prospects of a breakthrough in solving the Korean Peninsula issues.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that China is glad to see the positive interaction between the DPRK and the US.

He said China is supportive and hopes both sides will enhance dialogue and negotiation, meet each other half way and move forward the denuclearization of the peninsula, and that the process of political settlement continues in the right direction and strives to achieve steady progress.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is hard to predict whether and when there will be another Trump-Kim summit as it remains unclear on how to denuclearize.

“Without this premise, these two might not meet. But the most important thing at this moment is to promote the progress of negotiations and talks,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moon Jaein, president of the Republic of Korea, urged that both the DPRK and the US should “make bold decisions” to break the deepening diplomatic impasse, saying he’ll continue to act as mediator.

“North Korea (the DPRK) must carry out its nuclear dismantling and the US must take a corresponding step,” Moon said. “Under such a process, the two countries must pull back their deep-rooted mutual distrust caused by their 70 years of hostile relations.”

The ROK Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with US nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun to discuss denuclearization and peace on the peninsula.

During the meeting with Moon’s special envoys last week, Kim reconfirmed the country’s commitment to the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the two neighbors have agreed to hold the 40th round of inter-Korean workinglevel military talks on Thursday.

The agenda was set to discuss ways to ease military tensions between the two sides, including the withdrawal of some of the guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone, ways to disarm the Joint Security Area inside Panmunjom and the joint excavation of the remains of fallen soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Wang of CASS said the frequent meetings show the related parties wish to push forward the easing of the situation on the peninsula.

“The DPRK wants to develop its economy, so breaking the ice is the top priority,” he said. “The ROK doesn’t want to see the situation on the peninsula being tense again, considering its ethnic relations with the DPRK and alliance with the US.”

The [US and DPRK] must pull back their deeprooted mutual distrust.” Moon Jae-in, president, Republic of Korea