White House officials have confirmed that President Donald Trump remains open to reengaging with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the issue of denuclearization, despite prior summit failures and ongoing stalled negotiations. The confirmation comes in the wake of a recent statement from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, who expressed that while U.S.-North Korea relations are ‘not bad,’ any attempt to pressure North Korea to relinquish its nuclear arsenal would be viewed as ‘nothing but a mockery.’
Trump held three historic summits with Kim during his first term: in Singapore in 2018, Hanoi in 2019, and at the Korean Demilitarized Zone in late 2019, where he became the first U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil. These meetings led to a groundbreaking joint statement committing to ‘complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’ However, subsequent talks have stalled, with North Korea not giving up its nuclear weapons and the U.S. failing to lift sanctions. Kim reportedly sought partial dismantlement in exchange for full sanctions relief, a proposal Trump rejected.
By 2020, the entire denuclearization process had come to a standstill, with North Korea resuming weapons testing. In a recent commemorative statement marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of the Korean War, Trump reflected on his meetings with Kim, expressing pride in becoming the first sitting U.S. president to cross the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea. He also reiterated the United States’ firm alliance with South Korea, emphasizing that ‘American and South Korean forces remain united in an ironclad alliance to this day.’