Trump-Kim summit worthy of recognition: Chinese FM

This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on February 28, 2019 and released on March 1, 2019 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R) meeting with US President Donald Trump (3rd L) at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi. [Photo: AFP/KCNA]

The summit between the United States and North Korea in Vietnam last week was an "important step" toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, China's foreign minister said on Friday.

The talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un were "worthy of full recognition," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's national legislature. He encouraged the two countries to "remain patient," as many of the issues concerning the peninsula "cannot be solved overnight."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets the press in Beijing on Friday, March 8, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua]

The foreign minister urged all of the parties involved to have rational expectations and to not set unrealistically high expectations or demands early in the process.

The summit between the two leaders ended abruptly with no agreement last Thursday over a disagreement over the degree of sanctions relief Washington should provide Pyongyang in return for steps towards nuclear disarmament.

(Story includes material sourced from AP.)