'US, N Korea yet to narrow differences on denuclearisation'

American diplomat Stephen Biegun has put forth that the United States and North Korea are yet to narrow their differences on denuclearisation, after the first round of preparatory talks were held in Pyongyang last week.

The remarks were made by the US Special Representative for North Korea during a meeting with a visiting South Korean parliamentary delegation, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"With only two weeks until the summit, it will be difficult to resolve all the tricky issues, but there's a chance if we can agree on a timeline (for denuclearization)," a member from delegation quoted Biegun as saying.

Chong Wa Dae, or South Korea's Presidential office, had earlier announced of a second preparatory meeting in the coming week between Pyongyang and Washington in an unspecified Asian country.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are expected to discuss the latter's progress of dismantling its nuclear weapons programme later this month, as agreed to in the first US-North Korea summit held in Singapore's Sentosa island in June 2018.

The expectations from the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi are high, as the second meeting comes as a break in the prevailing stalemate between Pyongyang and Washington over sanctions. North Korea has repeatedly pushed for relief in sanctions for the steps it has taken towards denuclearisation after the first summit.

The United States, however, has reinforced that sanctions would be given only after complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula is achieved, leading to an impasse.