"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. Analysis suggests that Trump, who is in desperate need of diplomatic achievements, may be seeking a breakthrough in North Korea rather than Iran.

Reporting from Washington, this is Jeon Byeong-nam.

[Reporter]

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

Meeting during his visit to the Asian region for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit to be held in Shenzhen, China, in November is being discussed as a primary option.

Previously, Trump also pushed for 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 that "North Korea also sent positive signals behind the scenes at the time, but difficulties arose due to the tight schedule and other factors."

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

He then put forward a massive scale-down of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises as a card to draw a positive response from North Korea.

[Victor Cha / Korea Chair at CSIS (CSIS Emergency Panel Discussion) : Given that he is 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 has received a "positive" response.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (local time on the 17th) : (What stage is the dialogue at?) It is very positive. Chairman Kim has always been very respectful to me.]

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

Criticism has also followed regarding Trump's attempts, with critics calling it a "misguided perception that diplomatic goals can be achieved through personal ties, and an act of appeasing another dictator."

(Camera: Cho Chang-hyun, Park Eun-ha | Video Editing: Park Sun-soo | Design: Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.