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US President Donald Trump is once again taking a strong interest in resuming dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.After abruptly ordering a reduction in the US’ joint military exercises with South Korea, Trump claimed that Kim has responded to his overtures.Media reports suggest that Trump wants to arrange a meeting with Kim as early as November, when the US president will travel to Asia for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.Analysts say Trump may be looking to summit diplomacy with North Korea — an approach he pioneered during his first presidency — to compensate for his failure to make meaningful diplomatic progress in his war with Iran ahead of the US midterm elections in November.But the chances of a summit actually coming together are unclear because North Korea’s stronger ties with Russia and China have lessened its need to negotiate with the US.The stalemate in the war with Iran is one of the primary reasons Trump is back to exploring his options with Kim Jong-un. Without an obvious exit strategy for the Iran conflict, summit diplomacy with North Korea could give Trump the foreign policy win he needs.Ahead of the midterms, Trump may feel the need to present himself not as a warmonger but as a peacemaker by lowering tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Speaking on a podcast for the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, CSIS Korean Chair Victor Cha described the drawdown of the ROK-US military exercises as the first concrete action Trump has taken to draw in Kim Jong-un. Cha added that Trump may also be trying to divert attention from the war with Iran.There are numerous signs that North Korea is not completely averse to dialogue. The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials when reporting that North Korea quietly indicated its openness to meeting Trump during his Asia tour in October 2025, but a tight schedule made a meeting impossible to organize. One day earlier, Trump revealed that Kim had responded to his request for a conversation.
