“I would like that,” Trump said aboard Air Force One when asked by reporters about the possibility of a meeting with Kim. “I’m open to it. I had a great relationship with him.”
Trump first travels to Malaysia for a summit of ASEAN, the association of Southeast Asian countries. He then visits Japan and South Korea. There he could also visit the border with North Korea.
It is not clear where exactly any meeting would take place, but Trump’s first meeting with Kim in 2019 was in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Later that year they also spoke in Vietnam.
Trips to Korea village suspended after speculation about Trump visit
Kim also indicated last month that he was open to new talks with the Americans. But he did want Washington to recognize his country as a nuclear state and no longer demand that North Korea give up all nuclear weapons. “Well, I think they are a kind of nuclear power,” Trump responded to that demand from the plane. “They certainly have a lot of nuclear weapons.”
Conversation with Xi Jinping
In South Korea, Trump will also speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. This is the first time since he started his second term in January. The main theme of the conversation is expected to be the trade war that Trump unleashed earlier this year. But Taiwan, the war in Ukraine and fentanyl smuggling may also be discussed.
Trump meets Xi in South Korea during his Asia trip
In any case, Trump said on the plane that he intended to address the situation of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. He was detained in 2020 after supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A group of more than thirty US lawmakers have written to Trump calling on Xi to release Lai.