BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly told the leader of his only major ally, China, that he wants to "achieve results" on the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula in a second summit with President Donald Trump.
The comments, contained in reports today from Chinese and North Korean state media, came a day after Kim left Beijing on his special armored train for Pyongyang after a two-day visit to the Chinese capital.
Kim's trip to China -- his fourth in the past 10 months -- is believed to be an effort to coordinate with Beijing ahead of a possible second summit with Trump. It comes after U.S. and North Korean officials are thought to have met in Vietnam to discuss the site of the summit.
North Korea will "make efforts for the second summit between [North Korean] and U.S. leaders to achieve results that will be welcomed by the international community," Kim was quoted as saying by China's official Xinhua News Agency.
All sides should "jointly push for a comprehensive resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue" and North Korea would "continue sticking to the stance of denuclearization and resolving the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation," Xinhua quoted Kim as saying.
Kim also said North Korea hopes its "legitimate concerns" would be given due respect, a reference to Pyongyang's desire for security guarantees and a possible peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.
He also credited President Xi Jinping with helping reduce regional tensions, saying that "the Korean Peninsula situation has been easing since last year, and China's important role in this process is obvious to all."
Xi was quoted as saying that China supports the U.S.-North Korea summits and hopes the two sides "will meet each other halfway." The North said in its report that Xi accepted an invitation to visit North Korea, although details of when he might make the trip were not given.
Xi has yet to visit North Korea since taking office in 2012.
Trump and Kim gathered in Singapore in June for the first-ever meeting between leaders of the two nations, but there has been a standoff ever since, with dueling accusations of bad faith.
Kim's Beijing visit was seen as part of an effort to win Chinese support for a reduction of U.N. sanctions imposed over his nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which have severely affected his country's already ailing economy.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested today that he'll push for sanction exemptions to restart dormant economic cooperation projects with North Korea.
Moon spoke only days after Kim said in a New Year's Day address that he was ready to resume South Korean tours to a North Korean mountain and reopen a jointly run factory complex in the North that was shut during the North's push to improve its nuclear weapons program.
Moon's comments could be read as a symbolic response to Kim's overture, but they could also hamper ties with Washington, which wants to maintain sanctions on North Korea until it completely abandons its nuclear program.
"We welcome North Korea's intention to resume their operation without conditions or compensation," Moon said. "My administration will cooperate with the international community, including the United States, to resolve the remaining issues such as international sanctions as soon as possible."
The two cooperation projects at the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort and the Kaesong industrial complex just north of the Koreas' border were suspended in the past decade along with other similar projects amid the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program.
While North Korea hasn't conducted any launches or detonations in more than a year, it has displayed no real intention of abandoning the programs that are seen as guaranteeing the government's survival.
Information for this article was contributed by Foster Klug and Hyung-jin Kim of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/10/2019