Trump Expects To Hold Second Summit With North Korea Sooner Than Expected

United States President Donald Trump revealed on Monday that he expects to hold a second summit with North Korea “quite soon’’ and hailed the “tremendous progress’’ made so far.

Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, separately said that he aimed to travel within the next three months to North Korea to organise the final details of such a meeting.

“Lord willing I’ll be travelling before the end of the year,” Pompeo said in New York, where he will be attending the UN General Assembly.

He insisted that sanctions on Pyongyang would remain in place until there is complete denuclearisation of North Korea and cautioned such a process will take more time.
“There remains work to be done,” he said.

Pompeo last week offered to meet his North Korean counterpart in New York.
“The relationship is very good with North Korea. We have many things in store. It looks like we will have a second summit quite soon,’’ Trump said in New York. Trump said North Korean, leader Kim Jong-Un had asked for the summit in a “beautiful letter.” Trump said progress with the North was significant and the relationship was looking “much different’’ than it did a year ago.

He had previously vowed to bring down “fire and fury’’ on Pyongyang and dubbed Kim “Little Rocket Man.’’

Trump is set to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae In on Monday in New York. The two Koreas held their own summit last week in North Korea in what was seen as a positive meeting. The U.S. is looking for Pyongyang to completely denuclearise by January 2021 but North Korea is asking for reciprocal measures from Washington on the Korean peninsula.

Pompeo cancelled a recent trip to North Korea, after Trump said there was a lack of progress.

However, it seems the talks are back on track from the U.S. perspective.

Trump met Kim in Singapore this year in an unprecedented summit. Washington insists the best way forward is direct talks between the two leaders.