North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US despite a spectacular failure to strike a nuclear deal at their Hanoi summit, with both sides keeping the door of diplomacy open.

The high-stakes second meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, without even a joint statement.

In the aftermath, each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock.

Trump insisted Pyongyang wanted all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes lifted, and this was a bridge too far.

But in a rare late-night press briefing, the North Korean foreign minister said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer.

Despite the stalemate, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange."

Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still-unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said.

Despite "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship, KNCA described the Hanoi summit as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter.

An unusually downcast Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would "rather do it right than do it fast," adding: "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times."

After returning to Washington, the US president tweeted Friday that his relations with Kim were "very good".

"We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have," he wrote.

- 'Billions of dollars' -

The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance.

According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016.

Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers but more recent restrictions apply to several lucrative industries -- coal and iron ore, seafood and textiles, among others -- in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang.

"It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior US official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars."

In return, Pyongyang was only offering to close "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants.

Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so.

"The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he added, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs which can reach the whole of the US mainland.

But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk."

Kim began a two-day official visit to Vietnam Friday, while in Manila, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters: "We are anxious to get back to the table so we can continue that conversation that will ultimately lead to peace and stability."

- 'Rollercoaster ride' -

Analysts said the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi did not herald the end of negotiations.

"I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group.

Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out."

But others pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides unable to bridge the gaps between them in time.

Former US ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said the impasse "highlighted the importance of working-level talks but simultaneously narrowed the range of options".

Kim put "more emphasis" on sanctions relief than most observers predicted, she said, and mutual liaison offices and an end-of-war statement proved insufficient to persuade him to go further with denuclearisation.

Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal".

"The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote.

Trump insists relations with Kim are 'very good'
Washington (AFP) March 1, 2019 - US President Donald Trump on Friday insisted that his relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were "very good" even though their Hanoi summit spectacularly failed to produce a nuclear deal.

"Great to be back from Vietnam, an amazing place," tweeted the president, who returned home late Thursday.

"We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have," he wrote.

"Relationship very good, let's see what happens!" he added -- repeating a phrase he has often turned to when it comes to North Korea.

Eight months after their first summit in Singapore, the high-stakes second meeting between the two leaders broke up in abruptly Thursday without even a joint statement.

Each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock, with Trump insisting Pyongyang wanted the lifting of all sanctions imposed over its banned weapons programs, something US officials were unwilling to do.

North Korea's foreign minister however said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer.

Despite the apparent stalemate, the North's official KCNA news agency described the Hanoi meeting as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter.

Trump blames N.Korea for student's death, doesn't mention Kim
Washington (AFP) March 1, 2019 - President Donald Trump on Friday sought to quell a firestorm sparked by his comments on the case of an American student tortured and left in a coma in North Korea, saying his words had been "misinterpreted."

Trump sparked widespread criticism when he told reporters at this week's summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam that he believed the North Korean leader's claim that he didn't know what happened to Otto Warmbier during his detention.

The 22-year-old Warmbier died days after being sent back to the United States in 2017.

After a stern rebuke from Warmbier's parents, Trump took to Twitter, insisting he held North Korea responsible for the student's death -- but without directly blaming Kim or even mentioning him.

"I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family," Trump said. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death.

"Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future."

Earlier Friday, Warmbier's parents Fred and Cindy condemned the US leader's "lavish praise" of Kim this week following their summit in Hanoi.

"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out," they said in a statement.

"Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity," they said.

"No excuses or lavish praise can change that."

In his response, Trump noted: "I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch."

He concluded: "I love Otto and think of him often!"

- Firestorm over Trump praise -

Warmbier, an Ohio native who studied at the University of Virginia, had traveled to North Korea on a tour.

He was pulled away at the Pyongyang airport and charged with crimes against the state for allegedly taking down a propaganda poster in his hotel.

He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. After lengthy negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, Warmbier was released but died a few days later on American soil.

After the Hanoi summit, Trump said of Kim: "He knew the case very well, but he knew it later."

Kim "tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word," Trump said.

- 'Tortured beyond belief' -

Washington politicians reminded the president that in 2017, he took credit for obtaining Warmbier's release.

"Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea," Trump said at the time.

That year, he also labelled Kim Jong Un a "madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people."

Warmbier's parents were then invited to attend Trump's State of the Union address in Congress in January 2018 and were hailed as "incredible people" in his speech.

In a tweet earlier Friday, before the Warmbier statement, Trump sought to put a good spin on his abortive nuclear talks with Kim.

"Great to be back from Vietnam, an amazing place. We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have. Relationship very good, let's see what happens!"

After Warmbier's death, the US government supported his parents in a lawsuit against Pyongyang.

On December 24, a US judge ordered North Korea to pay $501 million over Warmbier's death from apparent torture.

A judge said that Warmbier had been used "as a pawn in that totalitarian state's global shenanigans and face-off with the United States."

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