[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump has officially announced plans to pursue a North Korea-U.S. summit, stating that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un within this year. He even revealed specific figures, claiming that North Korea possesses 57 nuclear weapons, but declined to answer whether denuclearization remains the goal of these upcoming talks.

Reporting from Washington, this is correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

When asked whether he expects to meet Chairman Kim Jong Un within the year, President Trump answered without hesitation.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President : (Do you plan to meet with him by the end of the year?) Yes, I do.]

He then specifically mentioned North Korea's nuclear stockpile.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President : He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. That should have never been allowed to happen in the first place. That should have never been allowed. If I were president, that wouldn't have happened. But anyway, he has them.]

He argued that while the Biden administration's faults have already allowed North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons, there is no problem because he gets along well with Chairman Kim.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President : We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he's going to be fine. As long as you have a smart president (in the U.S.), he's going to be fine.]

Unlike Iran, which faced potential war and total blockage, this is interpreted as a stance that he will realistically acknowledge North Korea's already acquired nuclear status and manage the situation well himself.

When asked if the denuclearization of North Korea is still the goal of his dialogue with Chairman Kim, following the failures of the 2018 and 2019 summits, he stated that he did not want to comment.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President : Well, I don't want to talk about that, but, you know, I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un.]

Analyses suggest that a tug-of-war for the resumption of dialogue has begun, given that North Korea has put forward the abandonment of denuclearization as a precondition.

(Video取材: Oh Jung-shik, Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)