Kim Jong-Un vowed North Korea would mass-produce nuclear warheads and missiles in a defiant New Year message on January 1 suggesting he would continue to accelerate a rogue weapons programme that has stoked international tensions. / AFP PHOTO
ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — The United States has still “not heard anything directly back” from Pyongyang over plans for a US-North Korean summit, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday as he urged patience.
“There will be several steps (which) will be necessary to agree on the location and the scope of those discussions. We have not heard anything directly back from North Korea although we expect to hear something,” he said in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
“These are all questions people are anxious to hear answers to. I would say, ‘remain patient’.”
Pyongyang has been silent since last Thursday’s blockbuster announcement in Washington that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet by the end of May to discuss the nuclear standoff in the Korean peninsula.
Trump on Saturday predicted “tremendous success” in the talks and suggested North Korea wanted to “make peace”.
Analysts caution that some key answers are needed before the groundbreaking meeting will go ahead, including agreement on the location of the summit and the agenda.
© Agence France-Presse