US Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday President Donald Trump plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019.
Pence also said that Trump will push for a concrete plan outlining Pyongyang’s moves to end its arms programmes.
The US and North Korea have been discussing a second meeting of their leaders after a June summit in Singapore.
The meetings are expected to lay the groundwork for ending a nuclear standoff between the two countries.
“The plans are ongoing.
“We believe that the summit will likely occur after the first of the year, but the when and the where of that is still being worked out,” Pence told reporters after meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
In a separate interview with NBC News, Pence said the US would not require Pyongyang to provide a complete list of nuclear weapons and locations before the second summit.
“I think it will be absolutely imperative in this next summit that we come away with a plan for identifying all of the weapons in question, identifying all the development sites, allowing for inspections of the sites and the plan for dismantling nuclear weapons,” Pence said.
Trump is expected to speak more about enforcing sanctions when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit later this month and the unique role that China can play in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Pence said.
North Korea has not tested a nuclear device or ballistic missile since last year, and has said it has closed its main nuclear test site, with plans to dismantle several more facilities.
But it has warned it could restart its nuclear programme if the US does not drop the sanctions regime. (AFP)
