Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year and was open to further trade talks with South Korea even as he lobbed new criticisms at the visiting Asian ally.
“I’d like to meet him this year,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he welcomed South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, to the White House for the first time. “I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”
Despite clinching a trade deal in July that spared South Korean exports harsher US tariffs, the two sides continue to wrangle over nuclear energy, military spending, and details of a deal that included $350 billion in promised South Korean investments in the United States.
After meeting with Trump, Lee attended a business forum with senior US officials and CEOs of South Korean and US companies.
To coincide with the visit, South Korea’s flag carrier, Korean Air, announced an order for 103 Boeing aircraft, the largest order in the airline’s history.
North Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks. Its state media said later that US-South Korea joint military drills proved Washington’s intention to “occupy” the Korean peninsula and target countries in the region.
Since Trump’s January inauguration, Kim has ignored Trump’s repeated calls to revive the direct diplomacy he pursued during his 2017-2021 term in office, which produced no deal to halt North Korea’s nuclear program.
