Washington: US President Donald Trump has repeatedly proposed a meeting with Kim Jong-un. If such a meeting were to occur, it would be their first in more than six years.
Amid Trump’s proposals, North Korea tested sea-to-surface tactical cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea. Analysts and experts have viewed the cruise missile test as a rejection of Trump’s proposal. Professor Lim Yul-chul of Kyungnam University described this as confirmation of Kim’s firm rejection of Trump’s meeting proposals. He believes that the likelihood of a US-North Korea meeting has diminished, although it remains a possibility with a very small degree of hope as long as Trump remains on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim has previously stated that North Korea is ready to negotiate with the US if Washington drops its demand for denuclearization. He also stated that he would not engage in any transactional negotiations to ease sanctions. Experts speculate that North Korea may be waiting for Washington to offer a major agreement, such as suspending joint military exercises with South Korea, before resuming talks. North Korea conducted the missile test just hours before President Trump arrived in South Korea, where he was to participate in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) events. Trump is visiting South Korea from Wednesday to Thursday. Until Wednesday morning, North Korean state media had remained silent about the meeting with Kim.
