US President Donald Trump has expressed an intention to meet personally with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to recent reports.
As reported by the Operative Information Center-OMM, citing information from The Wall Street Journal which references US officials, the possibility of the two leaders meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit, scheduled to take place in Shenzhen, China, this November, is currently being considered.
According to the reports, President Trump has instructed his advisors to explore this possibility. However, the White House has clarified that an official preparation process for such a summit has not yet commenced. A White House official stated only that the leaders would meet at an "appropriate time."
The desire for a meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un is viewed as a significant step toward potentially revitalizing diplomatic engagement between the United States and North Korea. It is worth noting that on August 16, President Trump ordered a significant reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea, justifying the decision by citing his positive relationship with the North Korean leader.
President Trump has previously emphasized that the North Korean leader respects him, asserting that his rapport with Kim is superior to that of his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The two leaders have met three times previously: first in Singapore in June 2018, followed by a summit in Hanoi in February 2019, and finally at the Panmunjom border village in June 2019. Should a new meeting materialize, it would mark the first face-to-face contact between President Trump and Kim Jong Un during his current presidential term.
