Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un to meet one-on-one at Vietnam; 'meaningful gestures' required to lift sanctions, says US president

Washington: US President Donald Trump will have a one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their summit in Vietnam next week, a US official said Thursday.

The two leaders, who met for the first time in Singapore last June, are due to hold talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on 27-28 February. Trump is seeking to persuade the North Korean leader to abandon his nuclear arsenal. [caption id=“attachment_6132791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of US president Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore. AP[/caption] A US official said next week’s meeting would be “similar in format to what we saw last June in Singapore… there will be an opportunity for the two leaders to see one another one-on-one” before holding meetings with their respective teams. Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy to Pyongyang, is already in Hanoi holding talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol. US officials have declined to speculate on what elements might be included in a joint statement at the end of the meeting. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must make a “meaningful” gesture if he wants to see sanctions lifted, US president Donald Trump said Wednesday ahead of a second summit between the two men. “The sanctions are on in full. I haven’t taken sanctions off,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful on the other side.” Trump and Kim are due to meet in Hanoi next week to discuss progress on the issue of North Korea’s nuclear programme since they first met in Singapore last year. “Chairman Kim and I have a very good relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something work out,” Trump said, without providing further details. Trump reiterated his view that North Korea has “great” potential for economic development and suggested the Vietnam summit would not be the last. At their landmark meeting in Singapore last year, the US and North Korean leaders produced a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward “the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”