North Korea News: President Trump, Kim Jong Un Should Meet For Another Summit Prior To US Election, Seoul Says

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should meet for another summit prior to the U.S. presidential election in November, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has reportedly said.

An official in the South Korean government told Reuters on Wednesday that Moon announced the proposal during a remote video conference with European Council President Charles Michel. Moon believes another summit between Trump and Kim could restart stalled nuclear negotiations between the two nations.

"I believe there's a need for North Korea and the United States to try dialogue one more time before the U.S. presidential election," the official quoted Moon as saying. "The issues of nuclear programs and sanctions will ultimately have to be resolved through North Korea-U.S. talks."

U.S. and North Korean officials last met for diplomatic discussions over Pyongyang’s nuclear program in Sweden in October, but talks fell through on the first day of meetings. The U.S. wants North Korea to pursue a path to denuclearization, while North Korea wants the U.S. to lift the sanctions debilitating its economy.

Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said “substantial progress” could be made if nuclear negotiations resume. Trump last met Kim for a February 2019 summit in Vietnam and in Singapore in June 2018, but no concrete nuclear agreement was achieved.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been high, after North Korea destroyed an Inter-Korean Liaison office on June 16 in response to anti-regime leaflets coming from the South. The office was set up in 2018 to foster better ties with South Korea.

North Korea has been growing more frustrated with the sanctions being imposed on the isolated Asian country. During his New Year’s address, Kim threatened he would unveil a “new strategic weapon” this year after Pyongyang and Washington failed to reach a nuclear deal by the end of 2019.

A nuclear agreement has been one of the Trump administration's top foreign policy goals. Trump has said Kim is his friend, while Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has criticized Trump’s meetings with the North Korean leader.

Trump’s former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, has claimed North Korea would never give up its nuclear arsenal. A report by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute released in June said that North Korea has added up to 20 more nuclear warheads to its arsenal since January 2019, with the country having an estimated 30 to 40 warheads in total.