Following a historic summit in June, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are reportedly set to meet for a second time later this year.
According to CNN, the President and the North Korean leader have been in close contact since the Singapore summit, and plans are in motion for a continuation of talks.
While it may seem cordial on the surface, there are reportedly tensions between the two sides over the thorny subject of denuclearisation.
Sanctions against North Korea have remained in place and the state’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho called America’s actions since the summit ‘alarming’.
He pointed towards the ongoing economic sanctions and a lack of a Korean War peace treaty as that could potentially derail the nuclear talks.
An official told CNN that the latest statements from North Korea were meant as a ‘negotiating tactic, designed to put pressure on Trump ahead of the US midterm elections.
South Korea’s Presidential Spokesperson Kim Eui-keum said the South is ‘asking North Korea to speed up its denuclearisation’ – and said the US should ‘show sincere efforts about corresponding measures that North Korea is demanding’.
A confidential United Nations report accused North Korea of continuing to develop nuclear and missile programs, while US secretary of state Mike Pompeo admitted last month that the North continues to produce weapons-grade fissile material.
Following the June summit, North Korea claimed the United States agreed to lift sanctions.
However, Trump later stated He said: ‘The sanctions will come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor.’