Reuters: chances of a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un this year are slim
Kyiv • UNN
The United States has not received a response from North Korea regarding a Trump–Kim summit. Experts estimate the chances of a meeting at APEC at less than 10%.
Officials in the United States and South Korea believe that the chances of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year are diminishing. Reuters reports this, citing five sources familiar with the situation, writes UNN.
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Trump, the only U.S. president to have met with a North Korean leader, sought to restart talks with North Korea, but Pyongyang has shown little interest in diplomacy aimed at curbing its nuclear program.
The United States has received no response from North Korea regarding a meeting between Trump and Kim, and little time remains before a regional summit in China next month where it could take place, five sources said. Four of them were briefed by senior U.S. and South Korean officials, as well as by a South Korean official.
North Korean state media said Pyongyang would set tough conditions for agreeing to a bilateral summit, potentially including sanctions relief, even as Kim's influential sister said that relations between the two leaders were "excellent."
In August, the Republican U.S. president said he planned to meet with Kim later this year and that the North Korean leader had responded to his outreach.
Trump said that North Korean leader Kim responded to his message18.08.26, 09:39 • 5172 views
South Korea's intelligence agency told lawmakers late last month that there was a 50% chance Trump and Kim would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.
But on Monday, Trump, who met Kim three times during his first term, played down the prospects of such a meeting during the APEC gathering or a regional summit in the Philippines, also in November.
"I get along with him very well, and I'm not sure anybody is asking for a meeting," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Another South Korean official familiar with the matter said Pyongyang had taken no steps indicating that it was preparing for a meeting with Trump.
Last week, Seoul's ambassador to Washington, Kang Kyung-wha, said that no concrete progress had been made toward a Trump-Kim summit.
"President Trump held three historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term, which stabilized the situation on the Korean Peninsula," a White House official said on condition of anonymity. "U.S. policy toward North Korea has not changed. President Trump remains open to talks with Kim Jong Un without any preconditions. No meetings are being announced at this time. The leaders will meet at the appropriate time."
Last month, a senior U.S. official told reporters that Trump was "ready" to speak with Kim and that "the ball is entirely in North Korea's court."
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Nuclear Policy Program, said the likelihood of Trump and Kim meeting at the APEC summit was less than 10%.
"If Trump wants a meeting with Kim, I think the North Koreans are looking for a costly public signal," Panda said, arguing that the recent U.S. decision to scale back exercises with South Korea was insufficient.
Washington has periodically sought help from China, which maintains close ties with Kim, in mediating talks with North Korea.
But cordial talks between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which are expected to continue at APEC, have not led to breakthroughs in relations with Pyongyang.
Trump's meetings with Kim in 2018 and 2019, although historic, produced no concrete results.
"I don't know when they will meet," U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel said at an event in Seoul organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Wednesday. If they managed to arrange a meeting, she said, it would likely be announced suddenly.
"If it happens, it will happen the next day or within a few days of the announcement," she said.