Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul. Korea Times file

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul called Wednesday for a third summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, stressing the importance of working-level talks to ensure a new meeting will lead to substantial denuclearization steps.

"Now is the time for all-out efforts to make sure that a third summit between North Korea and the United States will lead to a practical denuclearization and peace process," the minister said in a keynote speech at a security form hosted by his ministry.

Referring to a series of summits between regional players scheduled to kick off later this week, the minister said, "The most important goal of all of these summits is to create an environment for a successful North Korea-U.S. summit."

Chinese President Xi Jinping is planned to visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Japan's Osaka next week. Trump will also visit Seoul at the end of the month for talks with President Moon Jae-in.

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In this file photo taken on June 12, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump, right,and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shake hands following a signing ceremony during their historic U.S.-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore. AFP-Yonhap

While attributing last year's progress in denuclearization talks to the so-called top-down diplomacy between leaders, the minister also highlighted the need for working-level negotiations for a successful summit.

"A top-down approach has its merits," he said. "I think we should take advantage of such top-down diplomacy and carry out working-level talks at various levels at the same time to narrow differences," he said.

The Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim in February abruptly ended without a deal as the two sides failed to find common ground over the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization measures and Washington's sanctions relief.

Some observers have attributed the summit breakdown to a lack of discussions between the two countries' working-level officials on what could be agreed to by their leaders at the summit. (Yonhap)