White House planning second Trump-Kim summit

White House planning second Trump-Kim summit

By Jordan Fabian - 09/10/18 03:18 PM EDT

The White House said Monday that planning is underway for a second meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un after the North Korean leader sent Trump a letter requesting another summit.

During a briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the request was the "primary purpose" of Kim's letter and a second meeting is "certainly something we want to take place."

She added that the White House is "already in the process of coordinating that."

Sanders provided no details about the time or place of a second meeting, saying discussions are still taking place.

The two leaders first met over the summer in Singapore in what was a historic first summit between the longtime foes.

Kim made a vague promise to give up his nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief from the U.S., but no timeline was agreed to following the meeting.

Trump has remained publicly bullish about his efforts to use diplomacy to end North Korea's nuclear program, despite mounting evidence that Pyongyang continues to push ahead with weapons and missile development.

Sanders said Kim's request is a sign Trump has "achieved tremendous success of his policy so far and the letter was further evidence of progress in that relationship."

She cited the return of U.S. prisoners and the remains of American war dead and the lack of new nuclear and missile tests.

But media reports, citing intelligence and military officials, say that progress toward denuclearization has been slow and that North Korea has shown few signs it is interested in giving up its weapons.

Some in the administration have cast a more skeptical eye toward North Korea's desire to denuclearize.

"The possibility of another meeting between the two presidents obviously exists. But President Trump can't make the North Koreans walk through the door he's holding open," national security adviser John Bolton said in a speech in Washington earlier Monday.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...ump-kim-summit

Good!! Trump and Kim Jong Un need to work out the details. Something breaks down or gets stalled among the various teams who I don't think understand that before anyone is going to give up nuclear weapons that are presently required by the North Korean Constitution, and can not happen until there is a codified peace and security agreement, and a reliable denuclearization plan with inspections and verifications in place so it can be voted on by their Constitution amenders, whoever or whatever entity that is in North Korea.

North Korea's Kim asks Trump for another meeting in new letter

Steve Holland
September 10, 2018
3:09 PM / Updated 2 hours ago

2 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un asking for a second meeting and the White House is already looking at scheduling one, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday.

The two leaders have been discussing North Korea’s nuclear program since their June 12 summit, which has been criticized for being short on concrete details about how and whether Kim is willing to give up on a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States.

The timing of a second Trump-Kim meeting was unclear. The sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month may provide an opportunity, although Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton said he did not believe Kim would attend.

Trump had told reporters on Friday that a personal letter from Kim was on the way.

“It was a very warm, very positive letter,” Sanders said at a briefing.

“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 told reporters the letter exhibited “a continued commitment to focus on denuclearization of the peninsula.” She said a military parade in Pyongyang on Sunday was “a sign of good faith” because it did not feature any long-range nuclear missiles.

Trump is doing the right thing in trying to set up another meeting with Kim, said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies from the Center for the National Interest, a think tank in Washington.

“When you combine Kim’s pledge to denuclearize by the end of Trump’s first term, as well as not displaying any long-range ballistic missiles during the north’s recent 70th anniversary celebrations, there are reasons for optimism,” he said.

Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by James Dalgleish, Kevin Drawbaugh and Rosalba O'Brien

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-n...-idUSKCN1LQ2E3

Trump receives 'warm' letter from Kim about new summit

2 minutes ago

North Korea's Kim Jong-un has written to US President Donald Trump asking for a follow-up to their historic summit which took place earlier this year.

The US says it is already looking at scheduling a new meeting.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the "very warm" letter showed Pyongyang's "continued commitment to focus on denuclearization".

Negotiations on the topic appeared to have stalled after the two leaders' historic summit in Singapore in June.

"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 co-ordinating that," Ms Sanders said.

She gave no indication of when a second meeting between the two leaders could potentially take place.

But she praised the letter as "very warm, very positive" and praised North Korea's military parade last weekend, saying that "for once was not about their nuclear arsenal". She attributed that to the "tremendous success" of Mr Trump's policies.

While North Korea did roll out soldiers, tanks and other weaponry, the parade did not display any intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the parade marking its 70th anniversary, reports say.

A display of ICBMs - which can reach the US mainland, potentially carrying a nuclear warhead - would have been seen as provocative.

Mr Trump himself thanked the North Korean leader via Twitter, saying the parade was "a big and very positive statement from North Korea."

"Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong!"

At their June summit in Singapore, the two leaders signed a vague agreement to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But it did not include a timeline, details or any mechanisms to verify the process.

High-level talks and visits have continued, but the most recent scheduled trip by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was called off at the last minute. Both sides have also blamed each other for stalling negotiations while insisting that they were committed to the process.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45480216

We need to move it forward with a peace and security agreement with a denuclearization plan with inspections and verifications.

WE WANT PEACE!