U.S. President Donald Trump again raised the possibility of a meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, chairperson of the State Affairs Commission.
According to AFP and Kyodo News, on the 27th (local time) aboard Air Force One en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, President Trump told reporters, "If Kim Jong Un also wants to meet me, I would gladly meet."
President Trump is currently on an Asia tour that includes Malaysia, Japan and Korea. He is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, Korea, on the 29th–30th, and during this period, a "surprise meeting" with the chairperson has been floated.
President Trump has repeatedly signaled a willingness to meet the chairperson even before this trip. On the 24th aboard his plane at the start of the tour, he said, "If he reaches out, I would like to meet," and added, "As when I met him in June 2019, I will make public that I am coming to Korea, and if he wants, I am certainly open."
At the time, President Trump referred to North Korea as "a kind of nuclear power," stirring diplomatic ripples.
With President Trump's remarks, the possibility of the U.S. and North Korean leaders meeting again, six years after the 2019 Panmunjom meeting, is drawing attention again.