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

U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his aides to pursue holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall, the Wall Street Journal reported on the 18th local time.

According to U.S. officials, President Trump has privately discussed pushing for a face-to-face meeting with leader Kim.

In particular, the possibility of meeting leader Kim during his upcoming Asia tour in November to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, has reportedly been raised.

Official preparations for the summit have not yet begun.

However, President Trump reportedly views a summit with leader Kim as an opportunity to resume stalled talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

A White House official stated that President Trump and leader Kim would meet at an appropriate time.

President Trump also pushed for a meeting with leader Kim during his Asia tour last year.

At the time, North Korea also sent positive signals behind the scenes, but the meeting did not materialize due to a tight schedule, U.S. officials said.

Some analyze that President Trump's recent order to significantly scale down the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises is also a measure kept with the resumption of talks with leader Kim in mind.

When ordering the reduction of the joint exercises on the 16th, President Trump cited maintaining a "very good relationship" with leader Kim as one of the reasons.

Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said, "President Trump has made it clear that he wants to meet leader Kim again," adding, "The joint exercises provided an opportunity to take tangible action to show leader Kim that he is serious about negotiations."

The Wall Street Journal analyzed that the lack of clear achievements in the war in Iran is also a backdrop for President Trump showing enthusiasm for a U.S.-North Korea summit.

It means he wants to produce a landmark achievement in the diplomatic field through a meeting with leader Kim.

However, outlooks suggest that even if a new U.S.-North Korea summit takes place, negotiations will be more difficult than in the past.

This is because North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile capabilities have significantly strengthened since 2019, when President Trump and leader Kim last met.

Experts estimate that North Korea possesses more than 60 nuclear warheads.

Jeffrey Lewis at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University said, "Given the missile launchers, plutonium, and highly enriched uranium production disclosed by North Korea, it is possible that North Korea's nuclear weapons currently slightly exceed 100."

North Korea's strengthened relations with Russia, China, and others are also a negotiating environment that differs from the past.

To support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea dispatched thousands of troops to gain combat experience and also strengthened missile cooperation with Iran.

While the United States does not officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, North Korea seeks to be recognized by the United States as a nuclear-armed state.

Chair Cha said, "North Korea has always wanted the United States to give up denuclearization and recognize them as a nuclear weapons state."

President Trump and leader Kim held their first summit in Singapore in 2018 and met again in Hanoi, Vietnam, the following year, but failed to reach an agreement due to differences over denuclearization and the lifting of sanctions.

They met for a third time at Panmunjom that same year, but failed to break the deadlock in U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.