Trump: "Will Meet Kim Jong-un by End of Year... North Korea Has 57 Nuclear Weapons"

[Anchor]

US President Donald Trump has directly stated that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un within this year. With the US midterm elections just over two months away and the likelihood of concluding the war with Iran fading, many analyze that he is trying to use diplomatic achievements with North Korea as a breakthrough.

We have our first report today (August 20) from Washington correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

When asked if he expects to meet with Chairman Kim Jong-un before the end of the year, US President Trump asserted without hesitation.

[Trump / US President : (Are you planning to meet with Chairman Kim Jong-un at the end of this year?) Yes, I am.]

If the summit takes place, it will be about seven years since their meeting at Panmunjom in June 2019.

The APEC summit to be held in Shenzhen, China, this coming November is cited as a likely occasion.

Following his earlier directive to drastically scale back South Korea-US joint military exercises, President Trump instructed aides to push for a North Korea-US summit this fall, laying the groundwork for the resumption of dialogue.

Regarding whether they have exchanged letters, he said he could not comment, but repeatedly emphasized their close personal relationship.

Notably, Trump revealed North Korea's specific nuclear arsenal for the first time.

[Trump / US President : Kim Jong-un has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. They should have never let that happen in the first place. It was something that should have never been allowed.]

This can be interpreted as acknowledging North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons as a fait accompli.

While criticizing the former Joe Biden administration for allowing North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons, Trump suggested that things will be fine because he and Chairman Kim get along well, implying that he can successfully manage the North Korean nuclear threat.

Attention is focusing on what ripple effects President Trump's aggressive moves to rapidly restore North Korea-US summit diplomacy will bring to the security landscape of the Korean Peninsula.

(Video Shooting: Oh Jung-shik, Video Editing: Chae Chul-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.