U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, outgoing Secretary of Defense James Mattis, center, and national security adviser John Bolton attend a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 17. Reuters-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

U.S. President Donald Trump apparently thinks his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un anticipated for sometime early next year will go well because Washington is easing some of its pressure on North Korea.

Sources said the U.S. has begun to show off a "softer" stance toward North Korea, allegedly to pave the way for the possible second summit between Kim and Trump.

"The United States doesn't want to see fallout in denuclearization talks on multiple fronts. Washington still believes it is still too early to relax economic sanctions given a lack of progress in talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program. Ahead of the upcoming second North Korea-United States summit, Washington is turning softer on Pyongyang to make progress happen," a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said.