Trump Pushes for Fall Summit with Kim Jong Un... November APEC in China Seen as Likely Venue

[Financial News, New York = Lee Byung-chul]President Donald Trump is seeking a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as early as this fall. The move appears aimed at reviving the North Korea-U.S. summit diplomacy of his first term and finding a diplomatic breakthrough as he struggles to identify a clear exit from the Iran War.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 18th, citing U.S. officials, that Trump is pressuring aides to arrange a meeting with Kim as early as this fall.
Trump has privately discussed the possibility of meeting Kim in person during his next trip to Asia. The most likely occasion is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held in Shenzhen, China, in November. No official preparations for a meeting have begun yet.
The WSJ linked the latest move to the Iran War. It said Trump, who has not achieved a clear diplomatic result in the conflict, is looking for a foreign policy achievement that could define his presidency. Trump also tried to meet Kim during his Asia trip last year. North Korea reportedly signaled privately that it was open to the meeting, but it fell through because of scheduling constraints.
Analysts say the recent scaling back of ROK-US exercises is also a sign that summit diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang may resume. On the 16th, Trump ordered a sharp reduction in U.S. participation in the ROK-US drills, citing among the reasons his "very good relationship" with Kim. He also disclosed that Kim had responded to his outreach.
Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said, "Trump has made it clear that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un again," adding that the reduction in the exercises is a concrete step showing Kim that Trump is serious about holding a summit.
Trump and Kim met three times, beginning in Singapore in 2018 and later in Hanoi and Panmunjom in 2019, but denuclearization talks ultimately collapsed. Since then, North Korea has rapidly expanded its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.
Independent arms control experts have estimated that North Korea possesses about 60 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile material to produce up to 90 nuclear weapons. Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said even those figures are too low.
Kim's diplomatic position has also changed. North Korea has improved ties with China and strengthened military cooperation with Russia by sending thousands of troops to support Moscow's war in Ukraine. Its missile cooperation with Iran has also deepened.



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