Kim wants 2nd summit with Trump

Pompeo says U.S. is ‘prepared to engage immediately’

TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to hold a second summit with President Donald Trump soon to speed up the denuclearization process, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.

Moon was speaking on his return to Seoul after a three-day meeting with Kim in Pyongyang. There, Kim promised to allow external inspectors into his country to verify that a missile test and launch site had been permanently dismantled, and he pledged to permanently disable an important nuclear site if the United States also takes “corresponding steps.”

Trump responded Wednesday to news from the summit by saying he was “very excited,” while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was “prepared to engage immediately” with North Korea to move dialogue ahead.

Moon said Kim wanted Pompeo to come to North Korea as well.

“Chairman Kim Jong Un said he wants Secretary Pompeo’s North Korea visit and a second summit with President Trump to happen at the earliest convenience in order to speed up the denuclearization process,” Moon told reporters in Seoul.

Moon said Kim also told him that the closure of a nuclear weapons test site at Punggye-ri could be subject to international verification as well. He said he would discuss with Trump his and Kim’s goal of formally declaring an end to the Korean War by the end of this year.

Moon’s optimism about engagement with Kim contrasts with assessments among foreign observers of the regime. Very few of these experts believe that Kim is willing to surrender his entire nuclear arsenal, although some believe he might be prepared to reduce it in return for economic benefits and guarantees that his regime will not be threatened.

U.S. intelligence officials, meanwhile, believe the Kim regime has stepped up the production of nuclear fuel at several secret sites this year, according to an NBC News report in June. If true, that would seriously undermine the significance of the concessions Kim is offering.

Moon noted that Trump and Kim both made pledges at their June summit in Singapore. North Korea promised to take steps toward complete denuclearization and returning the remains of U.S. service members killed in the war, while the United States pledged to “end hostilities, guarantee the security of the regime and establish a new relationship with North Korea,” he said.

“Such measures should be taken in a balanced manner between North Korea and the United States,” Moon said.