As President Donald Trump has praised the latest inter-Korean summit, senior U.S. officials are weighing the possibility of him going ahead with a second U.S.-North Korea summit as requested by the North's leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said Wednesday there has been "tremendous progress" with regard to North Korea, including steps for its denuclearization, in reference to two days of talks between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In through Wednesday in Pyongyang.
"We had very good news from North Korea, South Korea. They met, and we had some great responses," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"We're making tremendous progress with respect to North Korea."
Kim pledged to permanently close the North's key missile test site in the presence of international experts, and to dismantle its main nuclear complex in the country's northwest if the United States takes reciprocal actions.
[Pyeongyang Press Corps]
Asked about the specific meaning of "reciprocal" measures as cited by Kim, Trump said, "We'll see what he's looking at. We'll see."
Kim's offer, however, stopped short of what the United States has demanded -- a full and honest declaration of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, including nuclear weapons and fissile materials, as a first step toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.
The North's leader has yet to present a road map for denuclearization, either.
Asked what the United States would like to come out of the Moon-Kim summit, the third of its kind, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday that Washington hopes to see "meaningful, verifiable steps toward the denuclearization of North Korea."
Despite skepticism in Washington over Kim's seriousness about giving up the North's nuclear and missile programs, Trump appears eager to have a second summit with Kim following the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in June in Singapore.
On Sept. 10, the White House said Trump had received a request from Kim for a second meeting, and that the administration had begun the process of coordinating such an event.
On Wednesday, Trump claimed to have a "very good" personal relationship with Kim.
Trump revealed that he received a "tremendous letter" from Kim, which the U.S. leader said was delivered three days ago.
"We're talking," Trump said. "He's calm. I'm calm. So we'll see what happens."
Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang on denuclearizing North Korea have stalled despite Kim committing to "complete" denuclearization in the Singapore summit.
The United States has criticized North Korea for failing to take credible measures to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has insisted Washington first declare a formal end to the Korean War, which was halted with an armistice rather than a peace treaty in 1953.
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