<![CDATA[Trump-Kim summit 2019: US and North Korea negotiating terms of joint statement from Hanoi meeting]>
US and North Korean senior diplomats on Thursday began last-minute talks in Hanoi as official sources claimed both sides had not yet reached a consensus on the joint communique to be issued at next week's summit of the two countries' leaders.
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Vietnamese capital on February 27-28 is the second in eight months, after they met in Singapore last June. The Hanoi summit will continue a dramatic thaw in ties as the US seeks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.
Thursday's talks were held between teams led by Stephen Biegun, Trump's new North Korea point man, and Kim Hyok-chol, Pyongyang's former ambassador to Spain.
Kim and his delegation were seen entering the Hotel du Parc Hanoi " where Beigun is staying " at around 1.30pm local time, and leaving nearly five hours later.
The top US diplomat arrived in Hanoi on Thursday morning.
South Korean diplomatic and parliamentary sources told the South China Morning Post there is no consensus on specific denuclearisation measures.
Trump on Wednesday told reporters in the White House that he may ease sanctions on North Korea if Pyongyang did "something that's meaningful" on denuclearisation. The South Korean sources suggested such an outcome was possible.
"Despite Biegun's visit to Pyongyang, the two sides are still divided in many issues, mostly on North Korea's denuclearisation measures and the corresponding compensations from the US. The final consensus for the upcoming summit will be decided at this final work-level talks in Hanoi," the diplomatic source in Seoul said.
One key US demand is for Pyongyang to provide a list of scientists involved in intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development and subsequently "expel" them from the country, said the South Korean parliamentary source, who is close to the country's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
"Seoul was told Washington discussed sending the North Korean scientists to the US or to a third country, as an alternative option to Pyongyang giving away its list of nuclear weapons and their locations," the source said, noting Washington would likely have made the suggestion during Biegun's stay in Pyongyang. "Seoul and Washington closely crafted possible ideas for North Korea's denuclearisation that Pyongyang can actually accept, prior to Biegun's visit to Pyongyang."
Thursday's meeting follows a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of next week's summit.
Apart from North Korean and US officials, South Korean officials are playing a role too " with Lee Do-hoon, the country's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, due in Hanoi on Monday.
Trump in his comments Wednesday said he had discussed the upcoming summit in a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The US leader said he was in "no rush" for Pyongyang to denuclearise as long as there were no further ballistic missile tests by the hermit kingdom.
Seoul played down Trump's comments. "Trump was simply explaining the ongoing talks in [Hanoi]. After all, denuclearisation is not something that can be solved at once," said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for Moon.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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