North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to make a second summit with US President Donald Trump achieve a result that would be welcomed by the international community, AFP reported Wednesday.
The comments followed Kim’s visit to Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Kim said he hoped relevant sides would take North Korea's "reasonable concerns" seriously and actively respond to them to promote a comprehensive resolution to the Korean peninsula issue, China's official news agency Xinhua reported.
During Kim’s meeting with Xi, the two reiterated their support for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Xi told Kim that Beijing backs the North Korean leader's possible second summit with Trump and hopes they "meet each other halfway", Xinhua reported.
Kim and Trump held a historic summit in Singapore last June, during which they signed an agreement which includes a commitment to achieve total denuclearization of Korea, with promises to pursue “vigorous negotiations” to that end.
However, the negotiations have stalled, with reports suggesting that despite its commitment to denuclearize, North Korea has continued to expand infrastructure at nuclear and missile sites.
Trump's hopes of arranging a follow-up summit have been at a standstill. The North Koreans recently abruptly called off a meeting in New York with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Last week, in a New Year’s message, the North Korean leader said he is willing to meet Trump “at any time”, but also warned he would seek a “new path” if the United States continues to demand unilateral action from North Korea.
Later, however, Trump said Kim had sent him a “great letter” and added, "We really established a very good relationship. We'll probably have another meeting."
On Sunday, Trump said that the US and North Korea are negotiating the location of their next summit.
The US insists that United Nations sanctions must remain in place until North Korea gives up its weapons, while Pyongyang wants them immediately eased.