South Korea is watching a possible Trump-Kim summit after Donald Trump said he expects to meet Kim Jong-un later this year and Pyongyang gave a cautious response. Kim Yo-jong did not accept the overture outright, while Seoul officials said room for renewed dialogue still remains. The government also linked the outlook to Trump’s order to scale back South Korea-U.S. joint drills and to Lee Jae Myung’s push for a peace framework on the Korean Peninsula.
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a meeting wih senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
The South Korean government is closely watching signs of a possible summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after Trump expressed plans to meet Kim later this year and Pyongyang responded with caution but not an outright rejection of the proposed dialogue.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was seeking to revive summit diplomacy with Kim, following their meetings during the U.S. leader's first term. Trump confirmed to reporters Wednesday (local time) that he expects to meet with Kim later this year.
Trump also offered an unusually specific assessment of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, saying Pyongyang now possesses 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons.
