Trump says at South Korea summit he wants to meet with Kim again this year
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump at the White House on Monday. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump during a summit Monday with South Korea's president at the White House hailed his "great relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and said he wanted to meet with him again later this year.
Why it matters: Longstanding U.S. ally Seoul and Pyongyang are still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty, though South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to restore relations since being elected in June and has been rebuffed by the North.
- The Trump administration has been game-planning for potentially restarting dialogue with North Korea, which has made alarming nuclear advances since Trump and Kim last met during his first administration, Axios' Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler reported in April.
- Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader's sister, told state media in July that if Seoul and Washington pushed Pyongyang to denuclearize, it would be "interpreted as nothing but a mockery."
Driving the news: "I hope you can bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, the only divided nation in the world, so that you can meet with Kim Jong-un, build a Trump World in North Korea so that I can play golf there, and so that you can truly play a role as a world-historical peacemaker," Lee told Trump during his White House visit in Korean, via a translator.
- Trump told reporters while with Lee he'd "like to have a meeting" with Kim and he looked forward to doing so in the "appropriate" future.
- "I'd like to meet him this year," said Trump, who met with Kim three times during his first administration. "I have very good relationships with Kim Jong-un and North Korea," he continued.
- "A lot of people would say, oh, that's terrible. No, it's good. In fact, someday I'll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me," said Trump, who noted they "got along great" during their meetings.
- "I know him better than you do. I know him better than anybody almost, other than his sister," Trump told Lee. "I know him well, and I got along with him. ... I'm not supposed to say I really like him a lot because if I do that, I get killed in the fake news media. But I got along with him very well."
The big picture: Trump initially became embroiled in a war of words with North Korean state media, notably calling Kim "rocket man" in 2017.
- But a year later, the two leaders met in Singapore and committed their governments to the pursuit of peace.
- They met again in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019 at a summit that abruptly ended because of a disagreement over U.S. sanctions on North Korea.
- Four months later, Trump crossed the border at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas and entered North Korea.
Of note: During his summit with Lee, Trump recounted to reporters the moment he arrived in North Korea.
- "I saw more guns in that room than I've ever seen in my life," Trump said. "I looked at the other side and it was the same thing, and yet I felt safe. I felt safe because I have a great relationship with Kim Jong-un."
Go deeper: Trump admin game-planning for potential North Korea talks
