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A US-North Korea flash summit remains a long shot despite Donald Trump signalling he was open to such talks and describing Pyongyang as “sort of a nuclear power” as he embarked on his Asia trip last week. The choice of words by the US president could be interpreted as a diplomatic concession by Kim Jong-un, some analysts said. Others said the North Korean leader’s focus was on alliances with China and Russia amid the Ukraine war, making it difficult to devote time and resources to a photo-op summit with the United States. “Chances are still low, but we cannot rule it out,” Cho Han-bum of the Korea Institute for National Unification told This Week in Asia. “Even if they are not able to reach an agreement on the North’s denuclearisation in the initial stage, such a mini summit could pave the way for further negotiations among officials.” Having locked in summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Kim’s meeting with Trump would showcase his enhanced international status to his people, while the American leader could claim credit for resolving the nuclear threat Pyongyang posed to Washington, he said. “The stage for political theatrics has been set for the two leaders with big egos,” Cho said. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has said he would settle for a deal that would entail a phased solution of freezing, reduction and elimination of the North’s nuclear programme over a long period. Trump has said he is open to meeting Kim again during his coming two-day visit to South Korea on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The American president made the remarks at a press meeting aboard Air Force One on Friday en route to Malaysia on the first stop of his Asia trip that will also take him to Japan. If he’d like to meet, I’m open to it. I’d do it US President Donald Trump In response to a question about meeting Kim, he said: “I would if he would contact. The last time I met him, I put it out over the internet that I’m coming to South Korea and if he’d like to meet, I’m open to it. I’d do it.” Trump last met Kim at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019 in a no-script encounter that was realised after the US leader said he tweeted an invitation to meet and Kim called him “within 10 minutes”. The third in-person meeting at Panmunjom truce village on the inter-Korean border followed their first in Singapore in June 2018 and the second in Hanoi in February 2019. Trump on Friday reiterated he had a “great” relationship with Kim, and that he “got along very well” with the North Korean ruler. “He probably knows I’m coming, right? If you want to put out the word, I’m open to it. There’s not a lot of ways other than the internet. They have very little telephonic service,” he said. “But he knows I’m coming. I’d be open to it 100 per cent.” In a separate press briefing on Friday, a senior US official said a Trump-Kim summit was not on the current schedule for Trump’s Asia trip, but added: “Things can change.” South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Friday added to expectations for such a summit when he said there were “signs” of the north apparently preparing for possible talks at Panmunjom. He pointed to reports that North Koreans were seen carrying out clean-up work on the northern side of the joint security area. “North Koreans were recently seen cleaning at its facility, plucking grass, arranging flower beds and taking photos of the results,” Chung told journalists. “It marked the first time that the North has been detected doing clean-up work this year” at Panmunjom. The United Nations Command has also suspended private trips to the border village. ‘God-given chance’ Chung urged both the US and North Korea not to miss what he described as a “God-given chance” to end the Korean war after 72 years had passed since the ceasefire. But observers also pointed to news from Pyongyang that the North’s foreign minister Choe Son-hee would visit Russia and Belarus. Its state media did not immediately disclose other details, including the exact dates for Choe’s trip, but the report suggested a Trump-Kim meeting might have become more unlikely, said Yang Moo-jin, head of the University of North Korean Studies. “It is unreasonable to imagine a summit taking place without the minister in charge of US-North Korea negotiations.” Nevertheless, Kim could still respond with a message of acknowledgement, reaffirming their personal rapport. “Kim could send a message to Trump saying it’s still premature for resuming dialogue but stressing the door for dialogue remains open,” the professor said. “If Trump sends a more active message to North Korea before Choe’s Russia trip, the possibility cannot be ruled out that her visit could be postponed or shortened.” Doo Jin-ho, a senior analyst with the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said that from a positive perspective, Kim would agree to meet with Trump again because the ultimate goal for his diplomacy was to have Washington recognise the North as a nuclear power on an equal footing and lift sanctions through dialogue. In addition, a meeting with Trump would add shine to Kim’s status as Pyongyang prepares for a ninth party congress next year after he deepened military alliance with Russia and improved ties with China. “Pyongyang may judge this as a golden chance”, although it is still smarting at the failure of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in 2019 over details for the North’s denuclearisation. Viewed negatively, chances of a surprise summit appeared to be slim because North Korea’s top priority was to secure economic and political stability by strengthening alliances with China and Russia, Doo said. With the war in Ukraine still raging, North Korea needs to focus on deepening alliances with China and Russia, a task that makes it difficult for the country to devote time and resources to a summit with the United States. “As North Korea has been evading international sanctions through China and Russia, it has little incentive to rush to talk to the US amid a lack of trust,” he said. “Choe Son-hui’s visits to Russia and Belarus … could effectively be seen as a boycott of the summit” in this scenario, he added.
