WASHINGTON: Donald Trump is not scheduled to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while in South Korea next week, a senior US official said Friday, despite speculation about a meeting while the US president tours Asia.
“The president, of course, has expressed his willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un in the future. It is not on the schedule for this trip,” the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in a call.
South Korea’s unification minister said earlier Friday he believed there was a “considerable” chance that Trump would meet Kim during his visit to the peninsula next week.
Trump is expected in South Korea on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.
North Korea appears “to be paying attention to the United States and various signs... suggest a considerable possibility of a meeting,” unification minister Chung Dong-young told reporters.
