Trump Sends Conciliatory Message, Leaves Door Open to Face-to-Face Meeting with Kim Jong Un

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 12th (local time) that he might meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip to Asia next month.
He sent Kim a conciliatory message calling for the resumption of U.S.-North Korea dialogue. Attention is focused on whether the two leaders will meet around next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China.
Asked by reporters at the White House that day whether he planned to meet Kim during his Asia trip, Trump replied, “That could happen.”
He left open the possibility when asked whether he would meet Kim during his trip to Asia to attend the APEC summit, which will be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18–19.
Trump made no specific comments about meeting Kim face to face.
However, this was interpreted as another conciliatory message to Kim, as Trump left open the possibility of a meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders.
By confirming that he remains interested in meeting Kim despite being frantically busy with the midterm elections approaching, Trump urged North Korea, which has made little effort to resume dialogue, to reciprocate.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to meet Kim before the end of the year.
The APEC summit has been considered the most likely opportunity. The idea is for Trump to meet Kim in China or elsewhere while visiting Asia.
If Kim reciprocates, it remains unclear whether the meeting would take place in China or a third country. Some have speculated that Trump, seeking a made-for-TV spectacle, could try to visit Pyongyang, which would make him the first U.S. president to do so.
Kim’s position is that he will no longer discuss denuclearization. The U.S. State Department, the lead agency, continues to raise North Korea’s denuclearization, but Trump and the White House are trying to draw North Korea in by saying that “talks without preconditions are possible,” without mentioning denuclearization.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter