US Presidential Advisor: Need “a little more time” for 3rd summit with North Korea

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton (left) with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi for a meeting with leader Kim Jong-un and the North Korean delegation on February 28. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump is open to a third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un but needs more time before it happens, his national security adviser said on March 10.

Appearing on ABC, Mr. John Bolton said that the US has no illusions about North Korea's capabilities, but Trump still believes in his personal relationship with the North Korean leader.

Mr Bolton's comments came after two US think tanks and Seoul's intelligence agency said last week that North Korea was rebuilding a missile launch site at Sohae in the west of the country.

There are also reports from South Korean intelligence agencies of new activity at a factory in Sanumdong near Pyongyang, which produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.

Bolton declined to discuss the reports or whether a new North Korean missile launch would undermine engagement with the United States, but he said it was wrong to assume North Korea would “automatically” comply with its obligations.

“President Trump believes in his personal relationship with Kim Jong-un. He has invested a lot of time trying to develop that relationship,” John Bolton said.

“He said he was open to a third summit, but there was no plan, it might take a little while. But he was open to engaging again because he was convinced that the prospects for North Korea, which he had been trying to convince Kim Jong-un to accept if they denuclearized, were really fantastic.”

Earlier, on March 8, Trump told reporters that he would be disappointed if Pyongyang resumed weapons testing and reiterated his belief in a good relationship with the North Korean leader, despite the failure of their second summit in Hanoi.

North Korea has frozen nuclear and missile testing since 2017, and Trump sees this as a positive outcome from nearly a year of high-level engagement with North Korea.

In interviews with ABC and Fox News, Bolton appeared to rule out any partial deal with North Korea and said Trump had proposed a “big deal” at the Hanoi summit that would see North Korea completely denuclearize and give up its chemical and biological weapons.

“It’s possible that North Korea will go back and rethink its position and come back to the dialogue with President Trump about a big deal,” he told Fox, calling the approach North Korea has taken a “ploy” to achieve sanctions relief.