Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has asked United States President Donald Trump to restart the talks on denuclearisation in a positive and goodwill manner and reiterated that Pyongyang is willing to fulfill the commitment of abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
Kim made the comments while meeting with Chung Eui-yong, the special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday. He said that he never talked anything negative about Trump even to his closest aides.
“Chairman Kim especially stressed that he has never talked bad about President Trump to his staff or anyone else. And he said he hoped to end 70 years of a hostile relationship between North Korea and the US, and realise denuclearisation by improving the North-US relationship within Trump’s first term,” Chung was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying.
Reacting to the same, Trump on Thursday thanked Kim for his “unwavering faith” in him and said that the two will work together. He tweeted, “Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”
Chung added that the North Korean leader insisted that his government had taken various steps for denuclearisation and urged others to consider the efforts as significant and meaningful.
“(Kim) said North Korea has pre-emptively taken necessary measures to denuclearize and that he hoped such goodwill measures would be considered goodwill,” he further said.
The special envoy stated that Kim had dismantled its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, along with its only missile engine test facility in Dongchang-ri as part of his commitment.
Kim and Trump had signed a post-summit joint declaration on June 12 in Singapore, according to which the North Korean leader committed for “complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula”, while the latter pledged ‘security guarantees’ to North Korea.
Chung said that the third inter-Korean summit between Moon and Kim would take place in Pyongyang between September 18 to September 20, adding that another round of high-level negotiations would be held early next week to prepare for the meeting.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]