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With the Iran war stalled and Seoul slow to deliver on a $350 billion pledge, the U.S. president is dangling a one-on-one summit that could sideline South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands across the line that divides the two Koreas during their last meeting at Panmunjom, June 30, 2019.
On August 16, President Donald Trump posted an old photograph of himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns. The picture, taken during a meeting at the Demilitarized Zone in 2019, showed neither man smiling.
Hours later, Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with Kim as one reason. Two days after that, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was pushing aides to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Kim as early as November, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.
