U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly asked his aides to push for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 18th, local time, citing U.S. officials, that President Trump has discussed behind closed doors pushing for a face-to-face meeting with Chairman Kim.

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

Official preparations for the summit have not yet begun.

However, President Trump is reportedly viewing a summit with Chairman Kim as an opportunity to resume stalled North Korea-U.S. dialogue.

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

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

At the time, North Korea also sent positive signals behind the scenes for a meeting, but it failed to materialize due to a tight schedule, according to U.S. officials.

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

While instructing the reduction of joint South Korea-U.S. exercises on the 16th, President Trump cited maintaining a "very good relationship" with Chairman Kim as one of the reasons.

Victor Cha, the 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 Chairman Kim again," and added, "The joint exercises provided an opportunity to take concrete action to show Chairman Kim that he is serious about negotiations."

The WSJ analyzed that the lack of clear achievements in the Iran war is also a backdrop for President Trump's strong enthusiasm for a North Korea-U.S. summit.

The idea is that he wants to produce a landmark diplomatic achievement through a meeting with Chairman Kim.

However, outlooks also suggest that even if a new North Korea-U.S. summit is successfully held, 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 Chairman Kim last met.

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

Jeffrey Lewis at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University said, "Considering the missile launchers, plutonium, and high-enriched uranium production quantities disclosed by North Korea, North Korea's current nuclear weapons could slightly exceed 100."

North Korea's strengthened relations with Russia, China, and others also represent a negotiation environment different from the past.

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

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

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 Chairman 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 in the same year, but failed to break the deadlock in North Korea-U.S. denuclearization negotiations.