Trump likely to meet North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un early 2019

US President Donald Trump is likely to meet North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un in early 2019 and it will be a follow-up to their historic summit at Singapore in June this year, sources said.

Trump said on Saturday that he hoped to organise a second summit with the North Korean leader in early 2019, perhaps as early as either on January or February, following talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires.

“We’re getting along very well. We have a good relationship,” Trump said.

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President Trump also said that at some point he will invite the North Korean leader to the United States.

According to South Korea’s president Moon, Trump will grant North Korea’s leader his wishes if he delivers on denuclearisation.

“And the message was that President Trump has a very friendly view of Chairman Kim and that he likes him, and so he wishes Chairman Kim would implement the rest of their agreement and that he would make what Chairman Kim wants come true,” South Korean President Moon said.

An official work to arrange a second meeting between Trump and Kim has already begun and three sites for another meeting are under consideration, according to sources report.

In June, Trump and Kim signed a vaguely worded document on denuclearisation in their historic meet at Singapore, but progress since stalled as Washington and Pyongyang are sparring over the exact meaning of the agreement, said the sources.

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US officials insist on the complete, verified and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula before sanctions are lifted.

The North has rejected demands for what it calls “unilateral” disarmament and has instead sought unspecified reciprocal US measures in a gradual process.

Differences also remain between Washington and Seoul on how to proceed with Kim, as the dovish Moon favours more robust engagement with the North.

North and South Korea have begun to remove landmines and destroy military bunkers at parts of their common border as part of efforts to improve long-strained relations.

(With inputs from agencies)