[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall, according to U.S. media reports. Analysts suggest this is an effort to achieve diplomatic breakthroughs by resuming stalled dialogue with North Korea, especially as the war in Iran has reached a deadlock.

Here is a report by Gwak Sang-eun.

[Reporter]

The Wall Street Journal has reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his aides to pursue a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as this fall.

According to the reports, plans are being discussed behind closed doors to arrange a meeting with Chairman Kim on the occasion of President Trump's visit to Asia to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, this coming November.

During his Asian tour last year, President Trump reportedly pushed for a meeting with Chairman Kim, and North Korea also sent positive signals through backchannels, but the summit ultimately failed to materialize due to a tight schedule.

President Trump's recent directive to scale down South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises and his emphasis on having a "very good relationship" with Chairman Kim are also interpreted as laying the groundwork for a full-scale resumption of dialogue.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: Chairman Kim didn't like Biden, he didn't like Obama, he didn't like anybody, but he gets along very well with me. I'm making the situation safer.]

President Trump's strong drive to resume U.S.-North Korea talks is seen as an attempt to secure major diplomatic achievements ahead of the November midterm elections, amid a stalemate in the war in Iran.

However, even if a meeting takes place, whether negotiations will succeed remains uncertain.

This is largely because North Korea, which has significantly bolstered its nuclear and missile capabilities since President Trump and Chairman Kim last met in 2019, is likely to seek official recognition as a nuclear-armed state through this meeting.

In addition, North Korea's deepening alignment with Russia and China—highlighted by its troop dispatch to the war in Ukraine—makes it difficult to be optimistic about the summit's outcomes.

(Video Editing: Park Sun-soo)