(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is in no rush to denuclearize North Korea, although that remains his goal, Trend reports citing Yonhap.
Trump is due to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27 and 28 to discuss the dismantling of the regime's nuclear weapons program.
"I'm in no particular rush," he told reporters at the White House.
The first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June led to North Korea's commitment to "work toward" complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the US
Next week's meeting is expecting to flesh out the deal.
Trump said he spoke on the phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier in the day to discuss the upcoming summit and that he plans to call Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday.
The US president has remained hopeful for progress in North Korea's denuclearization and dangled the prospect of economic rewards for the impoverished regime.
He has also praised the North Korean leader, saying they have a great relationship and that they "fell in love."
"I hope we have the same good luck as we had in the first summit," Trump said last week. "I'm in no rush for speed. We just don't want testing."
Some observers interpreted that as a sign that the president doesn't care much about disarming the North as long as the regime refrains from testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that threaten the US
South Korea's presidential office quoted Moon as telling Trump that Seoul is willing to boost inter-Korean economic projects to lessen the burden of the United States in offering concessions for the North's denuclearization.
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