The US president notably left out photos from the Hanoi summit, which marked the beginning of the end of North Korea-US dialogue
US President Donald Trump on Aug. 24, 2026, posted a number of pictures of himself with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un from their previous summits. (via Truth Social)
US President Donald Trump signaled his eagerness to resume talks with North Korea on Monday, posting a flurry of photos of himself with Kim Jong-un. Trump made three successive posts that day on Truth Social featuring photos of himself with Kim. The first photo was taken during their first bilateral summit in Singapore in 2018. The other two are from June 2019, when the two leaders met at Panmunjom in the DMZ. The move appears aimed at expediting the resumption of talks by highlighting Trump and Kim’s past relationship at a time when North Korea remains frosty to Trump’s advances. Notably, no photos of the 2019 Hanoi summit were included in the US leader’s photo dump. The two leaders failed to reach an agreement during this second bilateral summit of theirs, clashing over denuclearization measures and levels of sanction relief. Trump is calling attention to successful diplomatic efforts, bringing to mind how the US and North Korea signed a joint statement at the Singapore summit and how he crossed the inter-Korean border to meet Kim during the summit at Panmunjom. Citing an individual briefed on discussions between US and Korean officials, Reuters reported that Trump hopes to restart talks with North Korea to secure a diplomatic win that will cancel out the highly unpopular conflict in Iran. However, North Korea has yet to issue a clear response. Although Trump has sent multiple overtures to Pyongyang in recent days, North Korea still went ahead with several ballistic missile launches last week. Trump has been outspoken about his intention to arrange a meeting with Kim before the end of the year, but whether that will lead to an actual bilateral summit is yet to be seen. By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondentPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
