Back at UN, Trump eyes new N.Korea summit 'quite soon'

This file combination of pictures made on August 10, 2017 shows an image (left) taken on April 15, 2017 of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on a balcony of the Grand People's Study House following a military parade in Pyongyang, and an image taken on July 19, 2017 of US President Donald Trump speaking during the first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in Washington, DC. PHOTO | SAUL LOEB AND ED JONES | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Trump used his debut address to the UN General Assembly last year to threaten to "totally destroy" North Korea and belittled Kim as "rocket man".

  • But speaking as he arrived at UN headquarters in New York for this year's gathering, Trump hailed "tremendous progress" to halt Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

  • Skepticism remains about whether Kim has taken any concrete steps, but that seems unlikely to deter Trump from pushing toward a follow-up to the Singapore summit in June.

  • While Trump will dial down the rhetoric against Kim, there seems to be little prospect of him doing likewise with Rouhani.

UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES,

President Donald Trump said Monday he expects a second summit with Kim Jong Un to take place "quite soon" as he returned to the United Nations to trumpet a turnaround in ties with the North Korean leader.

Trump used his debut address to the UN General Assembly last year to threaten to "totally destroy" North Korea and belittled Kim as "rocket man", prompting Kim to respond by calling the US president "mentally deranged".

PROGRESS
But speaking as he arrived at UN headquarters in New York for this year's gathering, Trump hailed "tremendous progress" to halt Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests and said that a year later it was a "much different time."

"It looks like we'll have a second summit quite soon," he told reporters.

"As you know Kim Jong Un wrote a letter -- a beautiful letter -- asking for a second meeting and we will be doing that," added Trump who met with Kim in Singapore in June.

While relations with Kim have improved dramatically, leaders attending the annual assembly will hear how another of Trump's adversaries, Iran's Hassan Rouhani, remains beyond the pale for the American president.

In addition to his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump has a series of bilateral meetings with allies such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Theresa May and Japan's Shinzo Abe, whom he met with late Sunday.

One of the most closely-watched will be Monday's meeting with South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, who will brief him on last week's inter-Korean summit with Kim in Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- who has visited Pyongyang three times -- will preside over a Security Council meeting Thursday where he will brief members on how the administration can persuade the North to turn its back on nuclear weapons.

He will also defend the Trump administration's use of sanctions to force change, which has seen Chinese and Russian companies punished for doing business in North Korea.

DOUBTS

Skepticism remains about whether Kim has taken any concrete steps, but that seems unlikely to deter Trump from pushing toward a follow-up to the Singapore summit in June.

Kicking off his meetings, Trump addressed "the world drug problem and a big problem it is" at an event that saw 130 countries pledge to step up action to fight the illegal drug trade and combat addiction.

In his 41-minute speech at the General Assembly in 2017, the US president made clear he wanted to turn the clock back on the last half-century's growth of global rules and institutions to return to the primacy of the nation-state.

The UN's number one financial backer, the United States has moved under Trump to cut funding to the world body, notably to peacekeeping missions that are key to the UN's goal of promoting peace and security.

"The United Nations has tremendous potential and that potential is being met, slowly but surely," Trump told the meeting attended by UN chief Antonio Guterres.

While Trump will dial down the rhetoric against Kim, there seems to be little prospect of him doing likewise with Rouhani.

The US annoyed many of its allies in Europe by pulling out of a deal they jointly negotiated in 2015 that lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

US allies in the Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia, have, however, been delighted by Trump's stance.

On Wednesday, Trump will for the first time chair a Security Council meeting on non-proliferation that will focus heavily on Iran, likely triggering a clash with other big powers.

The White House has not completely closed the door on a Rouhani-Trump meeting, but in a weekend op-ed in The Washington Post, Rouhani charged that Trump's offer of talks was not "genuine" and came with a list of "openly insulting preconditions."