Journalism of Courage
Trump administration officials are privately considering the possibility of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Trump’s upcoming visit to Asia, CNN reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
Officials have not yet begun logistical planning or made direct contact with Pyongyang, the report said. According to CNN, an earlier outreach from Trump this year went unanswered because North Korea refused to accept the letter sent by Washington.
While plans remain uncertain, officials told CNN that Trump has shown interest in meeting Kim during the Asia trip, even as the White House focuses on preparations for his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid trade tensions between the United States and China.
Trump’s interest reportedly grew after he met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House in August. During that meeting, Lee invited Trump to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers’ gathering in South Korea and suggested that it could serve as an opportunity for Trump and Kim to meet.
“I will do that, and we’ll have talks. He’d like to meet with me,” Trump said at the time, according to CNN. “We look forward to meeting with him, and we’ll make relations better.”
Kim also appeared open to the idea. Speaking before North Korea’s parliament last month, Kim was quoted by state media as saying, “Personally, I still have good memories of US President Trump. If the US drops its hollow obsession with denuclearisation and wants to pursue peaceful coexistence based on reality, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the US”
Relations between the two leaders have cooled since their last meeting in 2019 at the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), when Trump briefly stepped into North Korea the first sitting US president to do so. The meeting was hastily arranged after Trump tweeted an open invitation to Kim.
That encounter followed two earlier summits in Singapore and Hanoi, which failed to produce progress on limiting North Korea’s nuclear programme.
According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, there is currently no communication between Seoul and Pyongyang regarding a possible summit. A South Korean government source also told CNN that recent US security teams visiting the country did not scout the DMZ area, suggesting that another Trump–Kim meeting there is unlikely for now.
