US President Donald Trump at a press conference held after the 2nd DPRK-USA summit in Hanoi on February 27 and 28, 2019

Trump thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting his second summit with the DPRK Chairman Kim, at the DPRK-USA Hanoi Summit. He said that he and the DPRK leader discussed a number of issues, but it is not the right time to sign a joint statement, adding that he had an effective discussion with Chairman Kim.  He said that although differences remain, the US-DPRK relationship has improved compared to a year ago. The US President affirmed that the US is still interested in maintaining ties with the DPRK.  He said the US is ready to work with Japan and the Republic of Korea to help the DPRK develop its economy and disarm nuclear weapons. Trump said the two sides need to work harder to achieve denuclearization. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for his part, said the talks were productive. He added that groups from the two sides will meet in the upcoming weeks, and expressed his optimism that further progress will be made.  Earlier, the two leaders unexpectedly concluded negotiations earlier than scheduled.