Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said North Korea must be given security guarantees in exchange for steps towards denuclearisation.

"North Korea, in return for its denuclearisation, was after all promised security guarantees. Clearly it is waiting for some sort of signal in response," Putin told an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

"It seems to me counterproductive if we demand everything from the North Korean side and in response they are given nothing," he said at an event with China's Xi Jinping and Japan's Shinzo Abe.

He said international guarantees would be "appropriate" along with US offers, following a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June.

Then, Trump and Kim signed a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation but little progress has been made since then.

The latest round of diplomatic efforts to curb the North Korean nuclear programme has been high on the agenda in Vladivostok.

On Monday, Japan's Prime Minister Abe said he was ready to provide financial aid to Pyongyang on condition that it resolves the issues of its nuclear and missile tests and abducted Japanese nationals.

Russia and China both have land borders with North Korea and were its allies in the Korean conflict in the early 1950s.

They support North Korea's denuclearisation and abide by international sanctions against Pyongyang, but have rejected Trump's threats of military action made last year.

SKorea says progress of nuclear talks a 'daily concern'
Hanoi (AFP) Sept 13, 2018 - South Korea's foreign minister said Thursday that making progress on denuclearisation talks with North Korea is a "daily concern", as she called for fresh momentum at a joint Korean summit next week.

The meeting will be the third between the leaders of North and South Korea this year and comes as talks between Washington and Pyongyang over dismantling the North's nuclear arsenal have stalled.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met for a historic Singapore summit in June and pledged to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

However, no details were agreed, and Washington and Pyongyang have sparred since on what that means and how it will be achieved. Last month, Trump abruptly cancelled a planned visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang in a major setback.

The new US envoy for the North, Stephen Biegun, said in August Kim had promised "final, fully verified denuclearisation" at the Singapore summit.

But Pyongyang has slammed Washington for its "gangster-like" demands for complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha Thursday urged progress on the talks and said the issue was a central issue for Seoul.

"Getting traction on the denuclearisation and peace process that is very much now in motion -- it's a daily concern to get movement on this," she told a regional economic forum in Hanoi.

She added that she hopes that the September 18-20 summit in Pyongyang "will be a significant step forward in denuclearisation and peace".

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Kang called for "openness" from the North about their weapons programme and added a second Trump-Kim summit should deliver "concrete" results.

"A second summit has to be something that really significantly moves the agenda forward... there has to be concrete deliverables," she said.

Her comments come ahead of the September 18-20 meeting in Pyongyang between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who brokered the Kim-Trump summit in June.

Moon has called for a "bold decision" from Trump and Kim to successfully denuclearise the peninsula and urged a follow-up meeting between both sides.

The White House said earlier this week Trump had received a "very positive" letter from Kim seeking a follow-up meeting, since adding it is in the process of coordinating a possible second meeting between the two leaders.

Related Links
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Trump received Kim Jong Un letter seeking 2nd meet: WHouse
Washington (AFP) Sept 10, 2018
US President Donald Trump has received a "very positive" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seeking a follow-up meeting after their historic summit in Singapore, the White House said Monday. "It was a very warm, very positive letter," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, adding that the message showed Pyongyang's "continued commitment to focus on denuclearization" on the Korean Peninsula. "The primary purpose of the letter was to schedule another meeting with the president, whic ... read more