President Donald Trump has received what the White House said is a "very warm, very positive letter" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, requesting a follow-up meeting with Trump after the summit in Singapore earlier this year.

"The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the press briefing Monday. It was a request, she said, "which we are open to and already in the process of coordinating."

Talk of another Trump-Kim meeting initially seemed like an about-face for Trump, following the president's abrupt decision in late August to cancel a planned trip to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

At the time, Trump tweeted, "I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Asked by reporters on Monday what had changed in the three weeks since Trump canceled Pompeo's trip, Sanders cited a recent parade in Pyongyang. The annual parade has traditionally featured a display of intercontinental ballistic missiles, an obvious nod to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. This year, however, there were reportedly no ICBMs at the parade.

"The recent parade in North Korea, for once, was not about their nuclear arsenal," Sanders said, adding that the letter from Kim was "further evidence of progress" in the Trump administration's goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

But there are still serious issues standing in the way of further progress on North Korea. Notably, a new report from NBC News on Monday featured an assessment from intelligence officials that Kim is indeed still making nuclear weapons.

Citing U.S. intelligence officials, NBC also reported that North Korea is escalating its efforts to hide certain nuclear facilities, possibly to keep satellite images from revealing activity taking place there. The country is also moving nuclear warheads between various facilities, according to the officials.

The hardening intelligence assessment comes less than three months after Trump held a historic summit with Kim in Singapore in June, after which the president tweeted, "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."</s>BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - North Korea leader Kim Jong Un told an envoy of Chinese president Xi Jinping that North Korea is upholding the denuclearisation agreement it reached with the United States this year, China's state broadcaster said.

Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu, who is in Pyongyang for celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of North Korea, was told by Kim that North Korea hopes the United States keeps to its side of the agreement, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Kim met U.S. President Donald Trump in June and agreed to "work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", but negotiations appear to have stalled since then, with both sides increasingly critical of each other over a lack of progress. (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu Editing by David Goodman)</s>U.S. President Donald Trump received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about scheduling a second meeting between the two leaders, and the White House wants it to take place, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday. Sanders described the letter as “warm” and “positive.” She told reporters that a military parade in Pyongyang on Sunday was a sign of progress in talks on denuclearization because it did not feature any long-range nuclear missiles.</s>The White House is coordinating a second meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, after the North Korean leader sent a "very warm, very positive letter" requesting a follow-up summit to their earlier sit-down in Singapore on June 12.

"The primary purpose of the letter was to request, and look to schedule another meeting with the president," said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during Monday's press briefing, adding that it was a request "which we are open to and already in the process of coordinating."

"The recent parade in North Korea, for once, was not about their nuclear arsenal," Sanders said, pointing to the letter as "further evidence of progress" between Washington and Pyongyang over denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

On Sunday, North Korea celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding with a massive military parade - which conspicuously did not include long-range ballistic missiles.

The North’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, including its Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15, have been a main feature of its recent military parades, including one in February, and they have provoked President Trump to the extent that he has threatened military action. Their absence in Sunday’s parade is an encouraging signal for Washington, which has been urging the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, to ease tensions and focus on diplomacy aimed at ending his country’s nuclear weapons program. -New York Times

Meanwhile, satellite imagery from the last several months analyzed by 38 North has revealed progressive dismantling of key facilities related to their nuclear program.

These facilities are believed to have played a substantial role in North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program. Photos taken between July 20 and July 22 reveal the deconstruction, including the facility's rail-mounted transfer structure and other features.

Commercial satellite imagery of the launch pad from July 20 shows that the rail-mounted processing/transfer structure has been moved to the middle of the pad, exposing the underground rail transfer point—one of the few times it has been seen in this location. The roof and supporting structure have been partially removed and numerous vehicles are present—including a large construction crane. An image from two days later shows the continued presence of the crane and vehicles. Considerable progress has been made in dismantling the rail-mounted processing/transfer structure. One corner has been completely dismantled and the parts can be seen lying on the ground. In both images the two fuel/oxidizer bunkers, main processing building and gantry tower remain untouched. -38 North</s>BEIJING: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un told an envoy of Chinese president Xi Jinping that North Korea is upholding the denuclearisation agreement it reached with the United States this year, China's state broadcaster said.Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu , who is in Pyongyang for celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of North Korea, was told by Kim that North Korea hopes the United States keeps to its side of the agreement, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.Kim met U.S. President Donald Trump in June and agreed to "work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula ", but negotiations appear to have stalled since then, with both sides increasingly critical of each other over a lack of progress.</s>BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea leader Kim Jong Un told an envoy of Chinese president Xi Jinping that North Korea is upholding the denuclearisation agreement it reached with the United States this year, China’s state broadcaster said.

Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu, who is in Pyongyang for celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of North Korea, was told by Kim that North Korea hopes the United States keeps to its side of the agreement, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Kim met U.S. President Donald Trump in June and agreed to “work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, but negotiations appear to have stalled since then, with both sides increasingly critical of each other over a lack of progress.</s>BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea leader Kim Jong Un told an envoy of Chinese president Xi Jinping that North Korea is upholding the denuclearisation agreement it reached with the United States this year, China’s state broadcaster said.

Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu, who is in Pyongyang for celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of North Korea, was told by Kim that North Korea hopes the United States keeps to its side of the agreement, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Kim met U.S. President Donald Trump in June and agreed to “work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, but negotiations appear to have stalled since then, with both sides increasingly critical of each other over a lack of progress.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of North Korea's foundation in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo released September 10, 2018 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERS

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter of invitation to visit Russia to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday.

He added no detailed plans of a meeting between the two leaders are being discussed at the moment.</s>The military parade focused on conventional arms as thousands of troops marched through Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. Images from the parade show a mass rally in the square as armed soldiers paraded. Thousands of North Koreans waved flags as Kim Jong-un’s regime displayed its military force. Korean People’s Army tanks took part in the parade which in proviso years has been used by Kim to showcase his nuclear capability.

But the regime’s intercontinental ballistic missiles were nowhere to be seen, instead Kim showcased soldiers carrying guns and tanks rumbled through the square. The reduced display compared to past years earned a thank you note from US President Donald Trump, who hailed it as a "big and very positive statement from North Korea." Mr Trump on Twitter quoted a Fox News description of the event without long-range nuclear missiles as a sign of North Korea's "commitment to denuclearize." The US President tweeted: "Thank you To Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong! There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other! Much better than before I took office.”

The display came as Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter of invitation to visit Russia to Kim, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday. He added no detailed plans of a meeting between the two leaders are being discussed at the moment. In Pyongyang, line upon line of goose-stepping soldiers and columns of tanks shook the ground before giving way to chanting crowds waving flags and flowers as they passed a review stand where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sat with a special envoy from China, as well as other visiting foreigners. Kim told the envoy, Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu, that North Korea was focusing on economic development and hopes to learn from China's experience in this regard, Chinese state television reported. "North Korea upholds the consensus of the Singapore meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States and has taken steps for it and hopes the United States takes corresponding steps, to jointly promote the political resolution process for the peninsula issue," the report paraphrased Kim as saying.

The parade highlight themes of military accomplishment, national development, and international engagement at a time when doubts are arising over Kim's commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons. Unlike in previous years, there were no inter-continental missiles on display. And there were no nuclear tests to mark the holiday, as has happened in each of the last two years. North Korea routinely uses major holidays to showcase its military capabilities and the latest developments in missile technology. But that has lessened this year, underlining Kim's stated aim for denuclearising the Korean peninsula and his recent meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and summits with Trump in Singapore and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and Dalian. The theme for the celebrations this year was economic development and unifying the Korean peninsula, divided since World War Two.</s>VLADIVOSTOK: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday (Sep 10) said he was ready to provide financial aid to Pyongyang on condition that it resolves the issues of its nuclear and missile test and abducted Japanese nationals.

"If we resolve as a whole the questions of abductions of Japanese citizens (and) the missile and nuclear problem, we manage to draw a line under the unhappy past and normalise diplomatic relations, then we can provide it (North Korea) with economic aid," Abe said in translated comments to journalists after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

Japan, which has remained on the sidelines during a recent flurry of diplomatic activity over North Korea, sees it as particularly important to discuss with Pyongyang the scores of Japanese citizens kidnapped by the isolated state in the 1970s and 1980s to help train its spies.

In a televised interview in June, Abe expressed a readiness to finance denuclearisation costs in North Korea.

He called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to help overcome their mutual distrust, as he confirmed efforts were ongoing to arrange a Japan-North Korea summit, which has not materialised.

Japan takes a harsh stance towards Pyongyang, which has sent numerous missile tests in the direction of its territory.

Japan's defence ministry in a report last month said North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat" despite a diplomatic détente earlier this year.

Nuclear-armed North Korea will be among the issues topping the agenda as Russia's Vladimir Putin holds meetings with Asian leaders in Vladivostok this week on the sidelines of an economic forum.

Putin is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday and South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on Wednesday.

In recent months Putin has kept his distance from the dramatic rapprochement between Trump and Kim Jong Un that culminated in a historic summit on Jun 12, which has however struggled to translate into concrete progress on the promised denuclearisation.

Putin has invited the North Korean leader to make his first ever visit to Russia, but Kim has never responded.

A North Korean delegation headed by minister of External Economic Relations Kim Yong Jae on Monday headed to Vladivostok to take part in the forum.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter to meet North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.