Seoul: US, N Korea in talks to set up 3rd Trump-Kim summit

North Korean and US officials are holding "behind-the-scenes talks" to arrange a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the fate of the North's expanding nuclear arsenal, South Korea's president said, four months after a second meeting between the leaders in Hanoi collapsed without any agreement.

There have been no public meetings between Washington and Pyongyang since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit.

But the prospects for a resumption of US-North Korea diplomacy have brightened since Trump and Kim recently exchanged personal letters.

Trump called Kim's letter "beautiful" while Kim described Trump's as "excellent," though the contents of their letters have not been disclosed.

In a response Tuesday to questions by The Associated Press and six other news agencies, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that Trump's and Kim's "willingness to engage in dialogue has never faded" and that their recent letter exchanges prove that.

Moon, a liberal who met Kim three times last year, has made dialogue with the North as a route to forging peace on the Korean Peninsula a centerpiece of his presidency.

He has played a central role in facilitating U.S.-North Korean negotiations, even if those efforts have at times been overshadowed by the Trump-Kim talks that he helped broker.

Moon said he doesn't see the Hanoi summit as a failure. He said he thinks the meeting served as a chance for both Washington and Pyongyang to better understand each other's positions and "put everything they want on the negotiating table."
When asked whether Kim's recent letter included a mention about another summit, Trump said, "May be there was."
In yet another reminder of North Korea's continued mistrust of the United States, its foreign ministry said earlier Wednesday it won't surrender to U.S.-led sanctions and accused Washington of trying to "bring us to our knees."
"China and Russia have continued to play constructive roles so far to peacefully resolve the Korean Peninsula issue," he said. "I hope that China and Russia will play specific parts in helping the North resume dialogue at an early stage."