Second Trump-Kim summit announced after president meets North Korean envoy at White House
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet for a second time at a summit in February, the White House has announced.
The announcement came shortly after Mr Trump and secretary of state Mike Pompeo met with a North Korean envoy on Friday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump met with Kim Yong-chol for 90 minutes to discuss denuclearisation and a second summit.
The president has discussed having a second summit with Mr Kim several times since their historic first meeting in Singapore.
The second summit was announced despite reports that North Korea is still developing nuclear and missile technology.
On Wednesday, vice president Mike Pence said dialogue between Mr Trump and Mr Kim has been “promising” but that “we still await concrete steps by North Korea to dismantle the nuclear weapons that threaten our people and our allies in the region”.
During the first summit, North Korea pledged to take steps towards denuclearisation.
But according to an NBC report citing US intelligence assessments in July, North Korea had increased production of fuel for nuclear weapons in recent months.
The Trump administration’s newly released missile defence review also makes it clear that North Korea is still an “extraordinary threat” to the United States due to its missile and nuclear programme, and that the US must “remain vigilant”.
The reports contradict Mr Trump’s previous claim that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea”.
Mr Kim has also expressed his frustration with the lack of progress by the US on its side of the agreement, which would see Mr Trump lift economic sanctions on North Korea.
According to Ms Sanders, the United States plans to keep sanctions in place until North Korea adopts a “verifiable” denuclearisation plan.
Despite evidence that North Korea is not following the terms of the agreement, Mr Kim has also discussed the possibility of a second summit recently. During a visit to Beijing last week, he said North Korea would be pursuing another meeting “to achieve results that will be welcomed by the international community”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
The stalemate has continued between the two leaders despite Mr Trump’s insistence in September that himself and Mr Kim “fell in love” after exchanging “beautiful letters”.
