The United States is in behind-the-scenes talks with North Korea over a possible third summit and has proposed reviving working-level negotiations stalled since a second meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in February, South Korean President Moon Jae-in says.
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Trump said on Wednesday he would not meet with the North Korean leader during his trip to Asia for the G20 summit.
"But I may be speaking with him in a different form," he told reporters before heading to Asia. He did not elaborate.
Earlier, Moon, in written answers to questions from news agencies, including Reuters, said there was no reason to talk of a "stalemate" in efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons just because there had been no official dialogue.
A second summit between Trump and Kim held in February in Hanoi collapsed over differences between US calls for North Korea's denuclearisation and Kim's demands for relief from punishing sanctions.
"Both sides have been engaged in dialogue in regard to a third summit," Moon said. "It's noteworthy that the behind-the-scenes talks have been preceded by the mutual understanding of each other's position gained through the Hanoi summit."
Moon said the US had made a proposal for working-level talks and he urged Pyongyang to return to negotiations "at the earliest date possible in order to convince the international community of its willingness for complete nuclear dismantlement".
North Korea pursued nuclear and missile programs for years in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions.
Moon has been an ardent champion of efforts to end the confrontation, vowing to play a mediator role in nudging North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons in exchange for an end to sanctions and security guarantees.
Trump said on Tuesday he would hold another meeting with Kim "at some point".
The Hanoi breakdown was a blow for Moon, who days before the summit offered to "ease the burden" of the US by providing concessions to North Korea through inter-Korean economic initiatives which he seeks to revive.
Moon did not specify when and how the US proposal was made. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that a recent exchange of letters between Trump and Kim boosted hopes for a restart of talks, calling it a "very real possibility".
North Korea's official KCNA news agency said on Sunday that Trump's letter had "excellent content" and Kim would "seriously contemplate" it, without elaborating.
However, on Wednesday, North Korea's foreign ministry called a recent US extension of sanctions on the country "a manifestation of the most extreme hostile acts by the United States" and an outright challenge to the joint statement issued at the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June last year, in which the two sides agreed to foster a new era of relations.
Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea who led working-level talks ahead of the Hanoi summit, is visiting Seoul from Thursday for meetings with South Korean officials ahead of Trump, who is due in South Korea at the weekend.
Moon said the resumption of negotiations between North Korea and the US would take things "to the next level," and added: "I believe everything has now fallen into place for that to happen."
Australian Associated Press