South Korea's Moon says Trump-Kim summit will take place soon

SEOUL, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said a second summit between the United States and North Korea will take place soon and he expects the meeting to bring concrete results that will move forward the process of denuclearizing North Korea.

"The first summit was considered to be an abstract meeting and in reflection to that, I expect the second summit will bring some concrete agreements," Moon said Thursday at a New Year's news conference.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a historic summit in June in Singapore and pledged to work toward denuclearization in a vague agreement.

High-level meetings between U.S. and North Korean officials in preparation for the next summit will be underway, and Trump and Kim will meet soon for a second talk, Moon said.

"Kim's visit to China was also a sign that the second summit will take place in near future," he said.

Kim made a fourth visit to China to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said China will play a "constructive role for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Moon said distrust that runs deep between the United States and North Korea due to failed denuclearization negotiations in the past has delayed their current talks.

Past attempts to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons failed as negotiations such as the six-party talks between North Korea and the U.S., China, Russia,South Korea and Japan crumbled.

"This time, the talks are between leaders, not officials, and the weight of agreement is different from that made at a working level," Moon said.

He urged North Korea to take bold steps to speed the process of denuclearization and called on the United States to reward the process with corresponding measures.

"I think the U.S and North Korea will discuss detailed measures at a second summit," Moon said.

Moon said he received a New Year's letter from Kim, in which the North Korean leader expressed his wish to meet with South Korean president more often and called for a speedy process to improve North-South relations and denuclearization.

Moon replied to Kim's letter but didn't disclose his message.

Moon vowed to work with the international community to ease sanctions against North Korea so that North and South Korea can resume operations at their joint Kaesong Industrial Complex and resort and travel facilities in Mount Kumgang.