At a summit that began in Pyongyang Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that his June meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump helped stabilize regional security. Kim thanked Moon for brokering the meeting with Trump in Singapore as the two Korean leaders launched their third summit this year to discuss denuclearization, promote ties, and reduce military tension between their countries. Moon in turn thanked Kim for his “bold decision to open a new era.” The two leaders will meet again Wednesday before Moon returns to Seoul on Thursday.

PHILIPPINES: A landslide triggered by Typhoon Mangkhut buried a gold-mining community in a river of debris, with 40 bodies discovered Monday in Itogon. The super typhoon slammed into the northern Philippine province of Luzon on Saturday, killing at least 69 with numbers expected to rise.

North and South Korea on Friday opened a liaison office along their shared border, ahead of a third meeting this year between the nations’ leaders. The office, located in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, is the first of its kind since the Koreas were divided in 1945 at the end of World War II.

During Friday’s opening ceremony, South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said the facility will enable delegations from the two countries to “sit face to face, exchange our thoughts fast and accurately and put our heads together to resolve difficult matters.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has asked for a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, and the White House is considering it. Trump said last week he was expecting to hear from Kim, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Monday the president received a “very warm, very positive” letter from the North Korean leader. She said the letter serves as “further evidence of progress” in relations between the two leaders.

The leaders of North and South Korea will meet in another summit later this month to try to strengthen their cooperation since denuclearization efforts have stalled. Following a meeting in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week, a South Korean envoy said Kim wants to keep improving his country’s renewed relationship with the United States. At a historic meeting this summer, Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to work toward the end of the North Korean nuclear program.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed China for North Korea’s lack of progress in ending its nuclear weapons program and indicated it was unlikely the United States would resume joint military exercises with South Korea.

The United States will resume military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Tuesday. The U.S. military had suspended a major exercise with South Korea this year as a show of good faith toward North Korea. Mattis said the military is planning to resume those activities after reports North Korea has not significantly curbed its nuclear weapons activities.