Trump says to announce meeting with DPRK's Kim 'pretty soon,' likely in different location

UNITED NATIONS - US President Donald Trump said here on Monday that his second summit with the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, will be announced "pretty soon." The summit is likely to take place in a different place.

Speaking to the media before the bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that "we'll be having a second summit with Chairman Kim in the not too distant future."

"Our Secretary of State will be dealing with that subject. Mike Pompeo has been in touch with them, and we've been in touch with them," he said. "And I think within a fairly -- pretty short period of time, that will be announced and it will be location to be determined."

"We're both very much looking forward to having it. It will be between North Korea and the United States," he said. "It will be similar to the format we had before, most likely a different location. Again, it will be announced pretty soon."

"I think a lot of progress is being made. I see tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of Chairman Kim for making a deal," he said. "We are in no rush. There's no hurry. We got back three months ago or so. I think we' ve made more progress than anybody has made in -- ever, frankly, with regard to North Korea."

At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June in Singapore, the two sides issued a joint statement, agreeing to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

However, US-DPRK talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences in the scale of denuclearization, US sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration.

The US State Department said on Thursday the denuclearization of Pyongyang has to come first before the U.S. side gives any corresponding reciprocal measures.

The United States so far has largely ignored DPRK's request in the Pyongyang Declaration for "corresponding measures" as the precondition for its further actions on the denuclearization, such as the permanent destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear facility.

In August, just one day after Pompeo announced his visit to the DPRK, Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo not to go due to the insufficient progress with the DPRK.

During his Sept. 18-20 trip to Pyongyang, Moon held talks with Kim, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration on further steps toward the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and concrete measures to end hostile acts near inter-Korean border areas.

Pompeo said later in response that the United States is ready to transform its relations with the DPRK immediately.

Pompeo added that he had invited DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho to meet in New York City where they are scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

He also said on Friday that he hoped to travel to Pyongyang soon to prepare for the second summit between Trump and Kim.