Seoul (AFP) – South Korea’s unification minister said Friday he believed there was a “considerable” chance that US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to the peninsula next week. Trump is expected in South Korea on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.
US media have reported officials from his administration have privately discussed setting up a meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim, who he last held talks with in 2019. North Korea appears “to be paying attention to the United States and various signs…suggest a considerable possibility of a meeting,” unification minister Chung Dong-young told reporters. Trump has said he hopes to meet Kim again — possibly this year.
Kim said last month he had “fond memories” of Trump and was open to talks if the United States dropped its “delusional” demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons. Seoul on Friday urged the two leaders not to let the chance “slip away.” “I don’t want to miss even a one percent chance,” the unification minister said. “They need to make a decision,” Chung, whose ministry handles fraught relations with the North, added.
While no official announcements of the duo’s meeting have been made, South Korea and the United Nations Command halted tours of the Joint Security Area (JSA) from late October to early November. Kim and Trump last met in 2019 at Panmunjom in the JSA in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas — the only place where soldiers from both sides face each other on a regular basis.
Chung said North Koreans have been spotted “sprucing up” areas near the JSA for the first time this year — cleaning, pulling weeds, tidying flower beds and taking photos. Kim met Trump three times for high-profile summits during the US leader’s first term. The duo’s last and impromptu meeting at Panmunjom was hastily arranged after Trump extended an invitation to Kim on Twitter a day prior.
That event saw the two leaders shake hands over the concrete slabs dividing North and South before Trump walked a few paces into Pyongyang’s territory — becoming the first US president ever to set foot on North Korean soil. But talks eventually collapsed over just how much of its nuclear arsenal the North was willing to give up and what Pyongyang would get in return.
In August, Trump hailed his relationship with Kim and said he knew him “better than anybody, almost, other than his sister.” Trump’s trip to South Korea is also expected to see him meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
© 2024 AFP
