Trump-Kim summit 2019: US and North Korea negotiating terms of joint statement from Hanoi meeting

But official sources say the sides, led by Trump’s new North Korea point man Stephen Biegun and Pyongyang’s former ambassador to Spain, Kim Hyok-chol, have not yet reached a consensus

The sticking points have to do with denuclearisation

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Posters in Hanoi before the Trump-Kim summit. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:40pm, 21 Feb 2019Updated: 10:27pm, 21 Feb 2019

US and North Korean senior diplomats on Thursday began last-minute talks in Hanoi as official sources claimed both sides had not yet reached a consensus on the joint communique to be issued at next week’s summit of the two countries’ leaders.

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Vietnamese capital on February 27-28 is the second in eight months, after they met in Singapore last June. The Hanoi summit will continue a dramatic thaw in ties as the US seeks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.

Thursday’s talks were held between teams led by Stephen Biegun, Trump’s new North Korea point man, and Kim Hyok-chol, Pyongyang’s former ambassador to Spain.

Kim and his delegation were seen entering the Hotel du Parc Hanoi – where Beigun is staying – at around 1.30pm local time, and leaving nearly five hours later.

The top US diplomat arrived in Hanoi on Thursday morning.

South Korean diplomatic and parliamentary sources told the South China Morning Post there is no consensus on specific denuclearisation measures.