Trump, after meeting Prime Minister Kim, signals deep interest in U.S.-North Korea talks… Could it materialize on the occasion of his China visit - 경향신문

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Prime Minister Kim Min-seok meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on the 13th (local time). Yonhap News

U.S. President Donald Trump, in talks with Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on the 13th (local time), once again expressed deep interest in U.S.-North Korea dialogue. Attention is focused on whether it could be swiftly realized on the occasion of his visit to China, now about two weeks away.

According to Prime Minister Kim at a press briefing, during an unscheduled 20-minute meeting with him at the White House that day, President Trump said he was “maintaining a good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This is a phrase President Trump has repeated whenever he is asked about Chairman Kim.

Trump then reportedly asked Prime Minister Kim for his opinion, saying he wondered “whether Chairman Kim wants dialogue with the United States, with me.” Trump also had his aide bring a photo from seven years ago of the ‘Panmunjom U.S.-North Korea leaders’ meeting’ and, as they looked at it together, they discussed U.S.-North Korea dialogue.

Earlier, in June 2019 during his first term, President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Panmunjom. That encounter between the U.S. and North Korean leaders came together just 32 hours after President Trump proposed a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) meeting to Chairman Kim via Twitter (now X).

Even after returning to the White House this January, President Trump has repeatedly signaled his intent regarding U.S.-North Korea talks. During a Korea-U.S. summit last August, he said he “hoped to speak with Chairman Kim again,” expressing willingness to talk within the year. On his Asian tour last October for a visit to the APEC meeting in Gyeongju, he said aboard the plane, “If he (Chairman Kim) wants to meet, I am certainly open.” In an in-flight press conference, Trump also recalled, “The last time (June 2019) I met him, I made public on the internet that I was coming to Korea,” revealing his expectations for a ‘surprise meeting.’

Trump is scheduled to pay a state visit to China from the 31st of this month to the 2nd of next month. It will be five months since Trump and President Xi Jinping held talks in Busan on the sidelines of APEC late last October, and there has been steady speculation that around this time Trump could seek a ‘reunion’ with Chairman Kim.

According to Prime Minister Kim, in the White House meeting that day Trump said, “Meeting (with Chairman Kim) is good. Meeting is really good. But it could be during this trip to China, or it might not be, or it could be after, right?” This is interpreted as leaving open the possibility of meeting Chairman Kim on the occasion of his China visit while not being bound by timing. Prime Minister Kim explained, “The timing is not the core issue. It was not a proposal to move it up to that exact time or to link it.” Given the precedent of the 2019 Panmunjom meeting materializing without notice, Trump having expressed his intent for U.S.-North Korea dialogue, and his impulsive style, the possibility of a ‘Panmunjom meeting, Season 2’ cannot be ruled out.

Although Prime Minister Kim did not go into detail with reporters, Trump was said to have issued ‘a few instructions’ to his aides after hearing the prime minister’s advice on advancing U.S.-North Korea dialogue. Prime Minister Kim said Trump instructed his aides “to further ascertain the important points (I raised) and, on that basis, that it would be good to take certain measures regarding relations with North Korea.”

It is difficult to verify specifically what Trump asked his aides to ascertain and what measures he ordered. However, his meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vancewhom Prime Minister Kim met again the previous day following a first meeting in Januarymay offer a clue.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk in front of the Military Demarcation Line during a visit to Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. Cheong Wa Dae Press Corps

Prime Minister Kim has said that in his first meeting with Vice President Vance he proposed dispatching a special envoy to North Korea. In this meeting as well, Vice President Vance sought advice, asking, “President Trump is interested in dialogue with North Korea; how can I best support that?”, and Prime Minister Kim replied, “There are various ways, such as an exchange of letters, a special envoy, or a direct visit.”

Taken together, this raises interest in whether Trump may have ordered steps to convey intentions or proposals to the North through a special envoy or a letter. Prime Minister Kim said he handed Vice President Vance a memo laying out concrete options, and that he plans to deliver a similar memo to President Trump.

Emphasizing that both President Trump and Vice President Vance showed deep interest and resolve regarding U.S.-North Korea dialogue in their meetings with him, Prime Minister Kim said he “felt it clearly existed within the ‘areas of interest’ of U.S. foreign policy.”

If Trump seeks a reunion with Chairman Kim, the key to whether it happens ultimately lies with Chairman Kim. Analysts note that, amid closer ties with China and Russia and having already secured nuclear weapons, Chairman Kim has less incentive than before to enter U.S.-North Korea talks, and Prime Minister Kim acknowledged this as “the reality.”

However, at the 9th Congress of the Workers Party last month, Chairman Kim said that if the United States recognizes North Korea as a ‘nuclear-armed state’ and withdraws its hostile policy, there is “no reason we cannot get along well” with the United States, adding that “the prospects for DPRK-U.S. relations depend entirely on the U.S. side’s attitude.” He has not closed the door on U.S.-North Korea talks. In a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly last September, he likewise saidon the condition of ‘abandoning North Korea’s denuclearization’that “I still personally have good memories of the current U.S. President Trump.” This can be read as a willingness to engage in talks with President Trump when conditions are ripe.

Some observers suggest tat, after seeing President Trump carry out military attacks this year against Venezuela and Iran and extradite or remove the top leaders of those countries, Chairman Kim may seek to restore a channel for dialogue with President Trump, even as a form of ‘insurance.’