WSJ: Trump Pushing for Summit with Kim Jong-un as Early as This Fall

[Anchor]

U.S. media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this fall. Analysts suggest this is an attempt to achieve diplomatic success by resuming stalled North Korea-U.S. dialogue amid the stalemate in the war in Iran.

Reporter Gwak Sang-eun has the details.

[Reporter]

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his aides to push for an in-person meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall.

According to the report, a meeting with Chairman Kim is being discussed behind closed doors on the occasion of President Trump's visit to Asia to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, this coming November.

During his Asian tour last year, President Trump also pursued a meeting with Chairman Kim, and North Korea reportedly sent positive signals behind the scenes, but the meeting failed to materialize due to a tight schedule.

Some analysts suggest that President Trump's recent directive to significantly scale down South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises is also a measure keeping the resumption of dialogue with Chairman Kim in mind.

On the 16th, while ordering the reduction of the joint drills, President Trump cited maintaining a "very good relationship" with Chairman Kim as one of the reasons.

Analysts say that President Trump's eagerness to resume North Korea-U.S. dialogue stems from a desire to create new diplomatic achievements ahead of the November midterm elections, while the war in Iran remains deadlocked.

However, even if a meeting takes place, it appears unlikely that the negotiations will yield substantial results.

This is because North Korea, which has significantly strengthened its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities since its last meeting with President Trump in 2019, is highly likely to seek de facto recognition as a nuclear weapons state from the United States through this dialogue.

In addition, North Korea's closer alignment with Russia and China, highlighted by its troop dispatch to the war in Ukraine, is another factor that makes it difficult to be optimistic about the summit's outcome.

[Video Editing: Park Sun-soo]

※