President Donald Trump said he is in “no rush whatsoever” to conclude a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday he is no rush because he has a strong relationship with the North Korean leader and U.S. sanctions against the country remain in place while they work to negotiate a deal to end Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Trump said that he spoke earlier in the day with South Korean President Moon Jae-In about his planned second summit with Kim scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi.

Trump said he discussed all aspects of the meeting with Moon. He added that he plans to hold a similar conversation Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have met for the second time in a month to discuss peace commitments they reached in their first summit.

They also talked about Mr Kim's potential meeting with President Donald Trump next month.

South Korea's presidential office said Mr Moon will personally announce the outcome of Saturday's summit with Mr Kim on Sunday.

The presidential Blue House did not immediately provide more details.

The meeting at a border truce village came hours after South Korea expressed relief over revived talks for a summit between President Trump and Mr Kim.

This was following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw the US leader cancel the highly anticipated meeting, before saying it is potentially back on.

Trump later tweeted that the summit, if it does happen, will likely take place on June 12 in Singapore as originally planned.

In their first summit in April, Kim and Moon announced vague aspirations for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and permanent peace, which Seoul has tried to sell as a meaningful breakthrough to set up the summit with Trump.

But relations between the rival Koreas chilled in recent weeks, with North Korea canceling a high-level meeting with Seoul over South Korea's participation in regular military exercises with the United States.

It insisted that it will not return to talks unless its grievances are resolved.

South Korea, which brokered the talks between Washington and Pyongyang, was caught off guard by Trump's abrupt cancellation of the summit in which he cited hostility in recent North Korean comments.

Moon said Trump's decision left him 'perplexed' and was 'very regrettable.' He urged Washington and Pyongyang to resolve their differences through 'more direct and closer dialogue between their leaders.'

Trump's back-and-forth over his summit plans with Kim has exposed the fragility of Seoul as an intermediary.

It fanned fears in South Korea that the country may lose its voice between a rival intent on driving a wedge between Washington and Seoul and an American president who thinks less of the traditional alliance with Seoul than his predecessors.

Trump's decision to pull out of the summit with Kim came just days after he hosted Moon in a White House meeting where he openly cast doubts on the Singapore meeting but offered no support for continued inter-Korean progress, essentially ignoring the North's recent attempts to coerce the South.

In his letter to Kim, Trump objected specifically to a statement from senior North Korean diplomat Choe Son Hui.

She referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a 'political dummy' for his earlier comments on North Korea and said it was up to the Americans whether they would 'meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.'

North Korea issued an unusually restrained and diplomatic response to Trump, saying it's still willing to sit for talks with the United States 'at any time, (in) any format.'

'The first meeting would not solve all, but solving even one at a time in a phased way would make the relations get better rather than making them get worse,' North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said in a statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, which mainly targets external audience.

Analysts say Kim's diplomatic outreach in recent months after a flurry of nuclear and missile tests in 2017 indicates he is eager for sanctions relief to build his economy and the international legitimacy the summit with Trump would provide.

But there's also skepticism whether Kim will ever agree to fully relinquish his nuclear arsenal, which he likely sees as his only guarantee of survival.

Comments in North Korea's state media indicate Kim sees any meeting with Trump as an arms control negotiation between nuclear states, rather than a process to surrender his nukes.

The North has said it will refuse to participate in talks where it would be unilaterally pressured to give up its nukes.</s>According to a Japanese paper Shinzo Abe nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize

Trump claimed on Friday that Mr Abe put his name forward for the award. He added the Japanese leader gave him “the most beautiful copy” of a five page nomination letter. President Trump met North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on June 12 last year.

North Korea reveal Donald Trump SHOWDOWN: Kim and US president to m...

The meeting took place at a hotel in Singapore, and marked the first face-to-face meeting between a North Korean leader and US President.

A second summit between the two leaders is due to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, later this month.

According to Asahi, citing an unnamed Japanese government source, the US government raised the award with Mr Abe following the June meeting.

During the June summit Trump agreed America would cancel a planned series of military exercises with the South Korean armed forces.

The US is attempting to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.</s>SEOUL (AFP) - The North Korean special representative for the US arrived in Beijing on Tuesday (Feb 19), apparently en route to Vietnam to meet his Washington counterpart ahead of a second scheduled summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Hyok Chol arrived in the Chinese capital at around 10am local time (0200 GMT) and was expected to board a plane bound for Hanoi later in the day.

Kim's trip comes three days after Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, landed in Hanoi to discuss protocol and security matters with the US team ahead of the summit on Feb 27-28.

Kim Hyok Chol and his US counterpart Stephen Biegun were engaged in three days of talks in Pyongyang earlier this month, exploring each side's positions on denuclearisation ahead of the much-anticipated meeting.

Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed.

"We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then," Biegun said, adding that he was "confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here".

The US State Department said talks during Biegun's trip explored Trump and Kim Jong Un's "commitments of complete denuclearisation, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula".

Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was "ready to end this war".

The US envoy is expected to fly soon to Hanoi from Washington to resume talks with Kim Hyok Chol.

Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV".</s>Experts Pessimistic About Value Of Another Trump-Kim Summit

Some Korea experts question the wisdom of a second summit meeting, planned for this month between president Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</s>The North Korean special representative for the US arrived in Beijing on February 19, apparently en route to Vietnam to meet his Washington counterpart ahead of a second scheduled summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Hyok Chol arrived in the Chinese capital at around 10 am (0200 GMT) and was expected to board a plane bound for Hanoi later in the day.

Kim's trip comes three days after Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, landed in Hanoi to discuss protocol and security matters with the US team ahead of the summit on February 27-28.

Kim Hyok Chol and his US counterpart Stephen Biegun were engaged in three days of talks in Pyongyang earlier this month, exploring each side's positions on denuclearisation ahead of the much-anticipated meeting.

Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed. "We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then," Biegun said, adding that he was "confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here".

The US State Department said talks during Biegun's trip explored Trump and Kim Jong Un's "commitments of complete denuclearization, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula".

Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was "ready to end this war".

The US envoy is expected to fly soon to Hanoi from Washington to resume talks with Kim Hyok Chol.

Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV".</s>Some Korea experts question the wisdom of a second summit meeting, planned for this month between president Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</s>SEOUL: The North Korean special representative for the US arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, apparently en route to Vietnam to meet his Washington counterpart ahead of a second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Hyok Chol arrived in the Chinese capital at around 10 am and was expected to board a plane bound for Hanoi later in the day.

His trip comes three days after Kim Jong Un’s de-facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, landed in Hanoi to discuss protocol and security matters with the US team ahead of the summit on February 27-28.

Kim Hyok Chol and his US counterpart Stephen Biegun were engaged in three days of talks in Pyongyang earlier this month, exploring each side’s positions on denuclearisation ahead of the much-anticipated meeting.

Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed.

“We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then,” Biegun said, adding that he was “confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here”.

The US State Department said talks during Biegun’s trip explored Trump and Kim Jong Un’s “commitments of complete denuclearisation, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was ‘ready to end this war.’

Alex Wong, US deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, is already in the Vietnamese capital preparing for the summit.

Biegun is expected to fly there soon from Washington to resume talks with Kim Hyok Chol.

Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as ‘reality TV’.</s>SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s leader on Tuesday urged President Trump to offer joint North-South economic projects as an incentive for North Korea to denuclearize when he meets with its leader, Kim Jong-un, next week.

President Moon Jae-in and Mr. Trump spoke on the phone on Tuesday to discuss Mr. Trump’s planned second summit meeting with Mr. Kim, scheduled to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, next Wednesday and Thursday. Washington is studying what Mr. Trump can offer in exchange for North Korean steps toward denuclearization.

Mr. Moon urged Mr. Trump to give South Korea a role in measures to encourage the North’s denuclearization, said Mr. Moon’s spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, referring to cross-border economic projects Mr. Moon has supported. “President Moon said if President Trump asks, South Korea will be ready to do its part, lessening the United States’ burden,” Mr. Kim said.

When they met for the first time in June in Singapore, Mr. Trump and the North Korean leader struck a vague agreement to build “new” relations and to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” But negotiations between the United States and North Korea have since stalled. Mr. Trump is under pressure to use the Hanoi meeting to work out concrete plans for carrying out the June agreement.</s>Seoul, Feb 19 (IANS) A former North Korean diplomat here on Tuesday said Pyongyang has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons.

Speaking to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Seoul, ahead of the two-day summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled for February 27 and 28 in Hanoi, Thae Yong-ho said "there was not enough money in the world" to convince Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme.

The former diplomat, who worked at the North Korean Embassy in London before defecting to South Korea, said since coming to power in 2011, Kim has laid out a strategy for the international community to present the regime's nuclear programme as essential to the country's survival.

Thae said Kim's plan to justify the nuclear programme had been successful as he convinced the world a nuclear conflict with the US was plausible, Efe news reported.

Kim's strategy, Thae said followed Trump's speech at the UN in September 2017 where he said "completely destroying" North Korea was a major strategic error by Washington.

Thae said Pyongyang was trying to convince Washington if they ease sanctions on the regime, it would eliminate certain aspects of its programme -- without complete denuclearisation -- thereby removing any direct threat to the US.

According to him, if Pyongyang achieves its aim, it would end up being recognised unofficially as a nuclear power by the US, as is the case with countries like Pakistan, India or Israel.

Thae said the Kim regime was ready to dismantle facilities at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre because they were no longer fully functional. He warned of the inherent difficulties in verifying disarmament of a complex that comprised more than 390 buildings to which access was controlled by Pyongyang.

At the first summit in Singapore 2018, the leaders agreed to work towards denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, but no real progress has been made.

Now, the Hanoi summit is expected to help the stagnating talks move forward.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet with Vietnamese General Secretary and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng in Hanoi ahead of talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.