Trump Open to Meeting Kim Jong Un During Upcoming Visit to South Korea
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming visit to South Korea, should the latter express interest in holding talks. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Malaysia to Japan as part of his Asia tour, Trump noted, “I’d love to meet with him if he’d like to meet. I got along great with Kim Jong Un. If he wants to meet, I’ll be in South Korea.”
When asked if he would consider extending his trip to accommodate such a meeting, Trump replied, “I haven’t thought of it, but I think the answer would be, yeah.” His comments follow previous remarks in which he referred to North Korea as a “sort of nuclear power” and reiterated his openness to dialogue, saying, “If he’d like to meet, I’m open to it.”
Pyongyang has indicated that a potential meeting could take place if Washington accepts its nuclear status, which Kim Jong Un has described as “irreversible.” The last encounter between the two leaders occurred in 2019 at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. Trump is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday to meet President Lee Jae Myung before addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO luncheon and attending a US-APEC leaders’ dinner. He will later hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
