Trump Seeks Meeting with Kim Jong-un Within the Year: APEC in November Seen as Likely Occasion, Raising Questions on South Korea's Role

U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing to meet in person with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un within the year.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, slated to be held in Shenzhen, China, this coming November, is being discussed as a likely occasion.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the 18th local time that President Trump is pursuing a face-to-face meeting with leader Kim, raising the possibility that the meeting could materialize at the APEC summit in China this November.

However, it was reported that official preparations for a North Korea-U.S. summit have not yet begun.

President Trump has recently repeatedly emphasized his good relationship with leader Kim, showing an active stance toward resuming dialogue with North Korea.

On the 17th, while stating that leader Kim had responded to his proposal for dialogue, he did not disclose specific details.

Some interpretations suggested that his directive to significantly scale down U.S. military participation in the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises was also a conciliatory message aimed at restarting dialogue with North Korea.

If the meeting between President Trump and leader Kim takes place, it will be the first face-to-face summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. since the launch of the second Trump administration.

The two leaders' last meeting took place at Panmunjom in June 2019.

However, it remains unclear whether North Korea will actually agree to the talks.

(Produced by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.