Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will likely meet again after New Year, the US vice president said Thursday, but insisted his government would not repeat past mistakes where “promises are broken.”
The US president and the North’s leader held a historic summit in Singapore earlier this year, signing a vaguely worded deal on denuclearisation. North Korea has taken some steps since then — forgoing nuclear and missile tests, dismantling a missile test site and promising to also break up the country’s main nuclear complex if the US makes concessions.
But progress has generally been slow, with the two countries sparring over the exact meaning of the agreement. Trump has said he hopes to have a second meeting with Kim early next year, but talks between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a top North Korean official planned for last week, partly to prepare for the meeting, were cancelled. The US said the North axed the talks because they weren’t ready, and Trump insisted he was in “no rush”.
Speaking in Singapore, US Vice President Mike Pence insisted plans for the second meeting were still “ongoing”.
“We believe that the summit will likely occur after the 1st of the year but the when and the where of that is still being worked out,” he told reporters. “We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of prior administrations — frankly both political parties have made over the last several decades — where promises are made, sanctions are lifted and economic support comes and then promises are broken.”
His comments came after a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of a summit attended by world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.- AFP
