Trump keen on meeting Kim Jong Un again

In a bid to revive talks between the two Koreas, United States (US) President Donald Trump said that he wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, possibly this year.

“I will say that Kim Jong Un and I had a very good relationship… I’d like to have a meeting. I look forward to meeting with him in the appropriate future,” Trump said during a joint press conference with new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Lee sought Trump’s assistance in fostering peace on the Korean Peninsula, where South and North Korea, formed as separate states under US and Soviet influence after World War II.

After the Korean War (1950–1953), South Korea and North Korea emerged as ideologically opposed states bound by an armistice but not a peace treaty.

South Korea, aligned with the United States and Western allies, developed into a democratic, capitalist nation while North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union, became an isolated, authoritarian regime.

Ever since, hostilities have remained high.

“Resolving this issue through my engagement is not an easy thing. And the only person that can make progress on this issue is you, Mr. President. If you become the peacemaker, then I will assist you by being a peacemaker,” said Lee.

North Korea’s stance has shifted from seeking unification to naming South Korea its “principal enemy” in 2024, citing Seoul’s military cooperation with the US , calling them provocations.

By August 2025, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader, said that Pyongyang will never see Seoul as a partner for diplomacy.

Trump and the North Korean leader developed a notable personal rapport during Trump’s first term, marked by three historic summits in Singapore (2018), Hanoi (2019), and the Korean DMZ (2019).

These summits marked the first time a sitting US president met with a North Korean leader, a significant departure from decades of US policy toward the isolated nation.

However, the summits failed to achieve significant progress on denuclearisation, with North Korea, backed by maintaining and accelerating its nuclear program.

North Korea most recently rejected US diplomatic outreach in June 2025, when North Korean diplomats at the UN in New York City repeatedly declined a letter from Washington proposing dialogue.

This rejection aligns with North Korea’s broader stance since the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February 2019, where disagreements over sanctions relief and denuclearisation stalled talks.

Kim Yo-jong further dismissed US efforts in July 2025, urging Washington to accept North Korea as a nuclear state and shift its approach, indicating no interest in denuclearisation talks.

Yet, Trump often described their positive relationship, exchanging letters and claiming mutual understanding. “I will say that Kim Jong Un and I had a very good relationship, and still do.”

The US President has long expressed enthusiasm for North Korea’s economic potential, referencing North Korea’s “great beaches” and potential for tourism.

Lee said that he looks “forward to Trump’s meeting with chairman Kim Jong Un and construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf at that place.”

“Korea was able to attain economic growth and development through our ironclad alliance.”