WASHINGTON 20 Feb (ANA) - Almost a week before his second summit with Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump of the United States says he wants North Korea to end its nuclear programme - but is in no rush for Pyongyang to do so.

 

Speaking to reporters at a White House event on Tuesday, Trump said that if North Korea did not conduct any nuclear tests, then he was not under pressure to achieve one of his leading foreign policy goals - convincing the country to abandon nuclear weapons.

 

"I have no pressing time schedule," Trump said.

 

Trump said his second meeting with the North Korean leader on February 27 and 28 in Hanoi, Vietnam, would be "very exciting," but did not disclose details of what he hoped would be achieved.

 

"I look forward to being with Chairman Kim and I think a lot of things will come out of it," Trump said. "We had a tremendous first summit - it was really breaking the ice, but a lot of things came from that, including good relationships."

 

Attention has been focused on whether Washington will offer to lift some economic sanctions on North Korea in return for it taking concrete steps towards denuclearisation.

 

On Tuesday, the US State Department said sanctions on North Korea would be maintained until Washington achieved final results of full verified denuclearisation.

 

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in about the summit. He plans to talk to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. 

 

Moon told Trump in the call that his country was willing to open economic engagement with North Korea as a "concession" if it would hasten Pyongyang's denuclearisation, the South Korean president's office said. (ANA)

FA/ANA/20 February 2019--------