"Trump Pushing for Summit with Kim Jong-un This Fall"

[Anchor]

Foreign media reports indicate that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall. Analysts suggest that as an exit strategy from the war in Iran remains out of sight, Trump is seeking a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea.

For our first report, Washington Correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam has the details.

[Reporter]

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his aides to push for holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un within this year.

Meeting while visiting the Asia region for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, China, in November is being discussed as the primary option.

Previously, Trump also pursued a meeting with Chairman Kim during his Asian tour, which included attending the Gyeongju APEC summit in October of last year.

U.S. officials stated, "At the time, North Korea also sent positive signals behind the scenes, but faced difficulties due to a tight schedule and other factors."

Since June, Trump has hinted at hopes for North Korea-U.S. dialogue by posting photos on social media from the 2018 North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore and the 2019 meeting at Panmunjom.

Then, the day before yesterday (August 17), he put forward a significant reduction in the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises as a card to draw a positive response from North Korea.

[Victor Cha / Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS Emergency Panel Discussion) : While putting effort into a meeting with Kim Jong-un, this is the first concrete step he (Trump) has taken to draw Chairman Kim in.]

Trump stated that he received a "positive" response.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (local time, August 17) : (What stage is the dialogue at?) It's very positive. Chairman Kim Jong-un has always respected me very much.]

U.S. media outlets analyzed that Trump, bogged down in the quagmire of the war in Iran, wants a diplomatic achievement for the "November midterm elections" that could resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through a grand bargain with Kim Jong-un.

Criticism has also followed, with remarks that such attempts by Trump are "a misguided perception that diplomatic goals can be achieved through personal ties, effectively appeasing another dictator."

(Camera Reporter: Cho Chang-hyun, Park Eun-ha | Video Editor: Park Sun-soo | Designer: Hwang Se-yeon)

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