SEOUL/HANOI ¨C North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to meet again with President Donald Trump to continue nuclear negotiations after a two-day summit between the leaders collapsed Thursday amid discord over sanctions and conflicting accounts of Pyongyang¡¯s demands.
Kim¡¯s pledge was released Friday through North Korea¡¯s state-run news agency KCNA in a report that presented a more optimistic outlook than the regime¡¯s top diplomats gave in a rare news conference hours earlier. Kim expressed appreciation for Trump¡¯s ¡°active efforts toward results¡± and called the summit talks ¡°productive.¡±
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho previously disputed Trump¡¯s claim that Kim had demanded a complete removal of economic sanctions ¡ª which the U.S. president said led him to break off talks. Another top regime diplomat signaled a hardening stance, telling reporters Kim may have ¡°lost the will¡± to make a deal on his country¡¯s nuclear program.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.