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Trump meets Moon Jae-in, discusses plans to restart talks with North Korea

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been gridlocked since a second summit between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February ended without a deal.

Trump meets Moon Jae-in, discusses plans to restart talks with North Korea

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Korean President Moon Jae-in during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, September 23, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump met his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in New York on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly on Monday to discuss plans to restart US-North Korea talks, as Seoul’s spy agency said the negotiations could take place in two to three weeks.

Negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have stalled since a failed second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February. Pyongyang has said it is willing to restart working-level talks in late September, but no date or location have been set.

Trump and Moon discussed ways to achieve practical results in the US-North Korea working-level talks, Moon’s office said, while Trump expressed his confidence that Kim will fulfill commitments made during the two summits, according to a White House statement.

“There’s been no nuclear testing at all,” Trump told reporters as he met Moon on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

In a statement by Moon Jae-In’s office, “the two leaders agreed that they will continue to closely work together to address various challenges on the Korean Peninsula and the region effectively.”

US and South Korea shared a positive assessment of North Korea’s recently stated willingness to resume dialogue and reaffirmed that the spirit of the Singapore Joint Statement remains valid.

“They exchanged views on how to achieve substantive results at an early stage in the working-level negotiations between the United States and North Korea. In this regard, they reaffirmed their willingness to transform their respective relationships with North Korea, end nearly 70 years of hostility and establish a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,” read the statement.

North Korea on September 10, launched two unidentified projectiles from South Pyongan Province toward the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), hours after Pyongyang said it is willing to hold working-level talks with the United States in late September.

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been gridlocked since a second summit between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February ended without a deal.

North Korea twice launched “unidentified projectiles” in an easterly direction from South Pyongyang province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

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