Trump administration officials have privately talked about arranging a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Trump's visit to Asia next month.
Trump earlier expressed interest in meeting Kim in 2025 during a White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in August.
No Logistical Planning Underway
Officials have not undertaken serious logistical planning for a potential meeting, sources told CNN. Unlike Trump's first term, there have been no direct communications between Washington and Pyongyang.
Two sources told CNN that North Korea rejected a letter Trump sent earlier this year, so the initial outreach went unanswered.
The White House has been more focused on arranging a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping amid escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
South Korea Meeting Sparked Interest
According to reports, the U.S. president became more intrigued in the idea after hosting South Korean President at the White House in August. During the visit, Lee invited Trump to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers meeting in South Korea and suggested it could serve as a possible setting for a meeting with Kim.
“I will do that, and we’ll have talks. He’d like to meet with me,” Trump said. “We look forward to meeting with him, and we’ll make relations better.”
North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, signaled openness to the idea during a speech before the country's parliament last month, according to state media reports.
“Personally, I still have good memories of US President Trump,” Kim said.
He stated, "If the U.S. drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization and wants to pursue peaceful coexistence with North Korea based on the recognition of reality, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the U.S."
2019 Hastily Arranged Meeting
Trump’s last meeting with Kim in 2019 was arranged hastily after he extended an invitation via Twitter
During that visit, he briefly crossed the demarcation line, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
