U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to revisit Asia to meet North Korea's State Affairs Commission Chairperson Kim Jong-un again.
Aboard Air Force One on the 30th (local time), before departing for home after a two-day visit to South Korea that included a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump made the remarks to reporters.
When asked whether he had sought to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump said he had been too busy to do so, adding that the purpose of his visit was the U.S.-China summit and that meeting Kim during the trip could have been disrespectful to President Xi given the importance of the summit.
Trump's remarks are seen as both emphasizing that the core purpose of this visit to Korea was the U.S.-China summit and revealing an intention to return to North Korea diplomacy going forward.
He said, "I will come back. As for Kim Jong-un, I will come back," hinting at the possibility of a future visit to North Korea.
To the question, "What would you like to talk about with Chairperson Kim?" he said, "I had a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un." He continued, "If I had not been elected (in the 2016 U.S. presidential election), Hillary Clinton would have become president, but Kim Jong-un does not like Clinton. Frankly, Kim does not like many people other than me," and argued, "If not for me, a major war would have broken out on the Korean Peninsula."
During his first term, President Trump held three summits with Chairperson Kim. Starting with the first North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore in June 2018, it continued in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019, and a meeting at Panmunjom in June of the same year.
Trump's remarks came immediately after his meeting with President Xi and appear to suggest the possibility of bringing the North Korea issue back as a key diplomatic card within the future U.S.-China-North Korea triangular relationship.
Meanwhile, during this Asia tour, President Trump visited Malaysia and Japan in succession before making Korea his final stop. In Korea, he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting schedule and, after holding a summit with President Xi, departed for home.