A US negotiator called Thursday on North Korea to provide a detailed account of its weapons to seal a peace deal, saying President Donald Trump…
A US negotiator called Thursday on North Korea to provide a detailed account of its weapons to seal a peace deal, saying President Donald Trump was ready to offer a future that includes diplomatic relations and economic aid.
Trump is set to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in around a month and said Thursday that he would announce the exact date and venue early next week.
« I think most of you know where the location is. I don’t think it’s a great secret, » he told reporters at the White House.
Vietnam has offered to host the talks.
« We’ve made tremendous progress with North Korea, » said Trump, whose June summit with Kim in Singapore was the first ever between leaders of the two countries that never formally ended the Korean War.
The meeting produced a document in which Kim pledged to work toward the « denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. »
As skeptics voice worry that Trump is overly eager to make a legacy-building deal and enjoy the spotlight of meeting the reclusive leader again, the US special representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, said the administration is « clear-eyed » and prepared for contingencies if talks fail.
On Tuesday Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee that « North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, » an analysis counter to Trump’s position that there is « a decent chance » of the North giving up its nuclear weapons.
Biegun painted an upbeat picture at ending decades of hostility despite repeated failures in the past, saying that Trump « is unconstrained by the assumptions of his predecessors.
