Trump: A third summit with Kim 'would be good'

World
Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed his "excellent" relationship with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, adding that a third summit with Kim "would be good."

Trump made the remarks in response to Kim's comments on holding another meeting between the two leaders.

"I agree with Kim Jong Un of North Korea (the DPRK) that our personal relationship remains very good, perhaps the term excellent would be even more accurate, and that a third Summit would be good in that we fully understand where we each stand," Trump tweeted.

"North Korea (The DPRK) has tremendous potential for extraordinary growth, economic success and riches under the leadership of Chairman Kim," he continued. "I look forward to the day, which could be soon, when Nuclear Weapons and Sanctions can be removed, and then watching North Korea become one of the most successful nations of the World!"

Screenshot of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet.

Kim's willingness to meet Trump again

The DPRK leader has expressed his willingness to hold a third summit with the U.S. president, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday, citing Kim's speech on the second day of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly meeting on Friday.

Kim said the Hanoi meeting had made him question whether Washington is "genuinely interested" in improving its relations with Pyongyang.

However, Kim also said his relations with Trump remain excellent and he will wait patiently "until the end of this year" for Washington to make "courageous" decisions in negotiations between the two countries.

Trump and Kim have met twice, in Hanoi in February and Singapore in June, building goodwill but failing to agree on a deal to lift sanctions in exchange for the DPRK abandoning its nuclear and missile programs.

02:33

Trump on Thursday said during a summit with Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in that he is open to a third summit with the DPRK leader.

The relationship between Trump and Kim has taken some dramatic turns, with the two leaders starting out as arch-enemies to both leaders working toward achieving a rapprochement through the PyeongChang Olympics, to holding a historic summit between the two in Singapore last June.

The whole world held high expectations in February, when the two leaders met for the second time, in Hanoi. However, their relationship took a sharp turn again during that summit when the two sides failed to generate any deal concerning the DPRK nuclear issue and the long-term sanctions it is subjected to.

04:10

Meanwhile, according to Yonhap, President Moon Jae-in returned home Friday after a two-day visit to the United States for talks with President Trump on ways to restart the denuclearization dialogue with the DPRK.

The ROK news agency said Moon apparently sought to win U.S. concessions on easing international sanctions against the DPRK that are said to be the cause of the collapse of the Hanoi summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with ROK President Moon Jae-in as he and first lady Melania Trump pose with Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook on the West Wing colonnade at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., April 11, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Yonhap reported that Moon has agreed to push for a meeting with the DPRK leader in the near future, in an obvious effort to help broker a nuclear deal and arrange a third Trump-Kim summit.

(With input from AFP)

(CGTN's Jin Yingqiao also contributed to the story.)