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U.S. President Donald Trump hinted this Wednesday that he plans to hold a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the end of the year.
In an exchange with the media outside the White House, Trump was asked if he expected to meet with Kim towards the end of the year, to which the president responded "Yes, I will," without offering further details on the matter.
Trump's words come days after Washington announced it would reduce its large summer military maneuvers with Seoul—exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal for invading its territory—in apparent response to the lack of support from the South Korean government in the war with Iran.
The head of state's statement also comes a few hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is pressuring his advisors to hold a new summit with the North Korean marshal this autumn, a meeting that the newspaper suggests could take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Shenzhen, China.
At the same time, the Republican president refused to clarify today whether there is currently an exchange of letters between him and Kim, but insisted that he gets along "very well" with him.
"He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. That should have never been allowed to happen. They should never have allowed it. If I had been president, I would not have allowed it. But the fact is that he has them," explained Trump, who added that Kim "will do very well" as long as there is "an intelligent president" in Washington.
On the other hand, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader and one of his main advisors, stated—in a note published by the official news agency KCNA—that she has no record of any current exchange between the two leaders, although she affirmed that the relationship between the two "remains excellent."
Trump met with Kim on three occasions during his first term (2017-2021) to try to reach an agreement that would lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
The negotiations ended without an agreement after the Republican leader considered Pyongyang's proposal insufficient, which subsequently strengthened its ties with Russia.
[Publicidad]