Washington, US President Donald Trump on Friday met with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in to discuss the recent development regarding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Trump’s plans to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to a statement issued by the White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders, Trump and Moon met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit “to discuss the latest developments regarding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
For his part, Trump discussed his intention to have a second US-DPRK summit, and restated with Moon their commitment to closely coordinate on next steps, Xinhua news agency reported.
Trump and Moon also reaffirmed their commitment to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the DPRK, and agreed on the importance of “maintaining vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions to ensure the DPRK understands that denuclearisation is the only path to economic prosperity and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Trump also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, when they reviewed the recent developments in the DPRK and discussed how best to work with the international community, including South Korea, to maintain pressure until the DPRK implements its commitment to denuclearise.
After Trump and Kim met in June in Singapore, negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been stuck due to bilateral differences on key problems over the scale of denuclearisation, US sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration, among others.
On November 7, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meeting with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee, which had been scheduled for November 8 in New York, would “take place at a later date.”
Trump said earlier in October that his meeting with Kim would be held after the midterm Congressional elections, and the venue of his second meeting with Kim had been narrowed down to “three or four” locations.