MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday that he was ready to denuclearize the country and continue dialogue with Washington and Seoul to resolve the tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

US President Donald Trump reiterated Wednesday his readiness to meet Kim Jong-un after the latter said in his New Year address to the nation that he wanted to improve relations with the United States.

South Korean men pass by a TV news program showing images published in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper of North Korea's ballistic missile believed to have been launched from underwater and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 9, 2015 ©
AP Photo / Ahn Young-oon Kim Says N Korea's 'New Path' Inevitable if US Insists on Unilateral Action - Reports
Trump and Kim met last year in Singapore. The North Korean leader secured Washington's commitment to suspend US-South Korean drills in exchange for its promise to denuclearize.
The long-standing tensions on the Korean Peninsula started to ease after North Korea expressed its willingness to denuclearize, and held summits with the South Korean and US presidents.
At the summit on April 27, the two Koreas agreed to halt all hostile acts against each other, while during the third meeting in September the sides agreed to suspend artillery drills near the inter-Korean border and remove all guard posts from the demilitarized zone. READ MORE: ‘Sanctions Are a Weapon’: North Korea’s Dual-Use Tech Studies Scrutinized by US

North Korean cargo ships wait their turn for entry to the West Sea Barrage dividing the Taedong River and the port of Nampo from the West Sea of Korea in April 2011 ©
AFP 2018 / State Department Accuses North Korea of Illegal Shipping to Evade UN Sanctions
The future nuclear talks, however, have been stalled, with Pyongyang insisting on immediate sanctions relief after Washington announced it had sanctioned three top North Korean officials.
Donald Trump has been reportedly considering a second summit with North Korean leader to speed up the stalling denuclearization. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton has said the meeting could take place in January or February.Source: sputniknews.com