Trump: I hope to meet with Kim this year

US President Donald Trump said Saturday, en route to Asia on Air Force One, that North Korea is “somewhat of a nuclear power”.

Asked whether he would be open to North Korea’s demand for recognition as a nuclear power as a precondition for dialogue with Washington, Trump said, “I think they’re somewhat of a nuclear power… I would say they have a lot of nuclear weapons”.

Trump will visit South Korea on Wednesday to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

US media reported earlier that Trump administration officials discussed the possibility of arranging a meeting between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he last met in 2019 during his first presidential term.

Trump expressed hope to meet Kim again, perhaps this year.

Kim said last month that he had fond memories of his meeting with Trump and was open to talks if the United States abandoned the illusion of forcing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

On Friday, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-yong said there was a high chance Trump would meet Kim during his visit to the Korean Peninsula next week.

However, a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in a call on Friday that “no meeting is scheduled for Trump’s trip”.

Trump and Kim last met in 2019 at Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, and they met three times during Trump’s first presidential term.

But talks between the two sides collapsed over how many weapons North Korea would give up in its nuclear arsenal and what Pyongyang would receive in return.

North Korea has since declared its status as a nuclear state irreversible.