President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to requests for the two leaders to have a conversation, as Trump moved to cut back military drills with South Korea, a longtime US ally.
Asked by a reporter Monday in the Oval Office whether Kim had replied to entreaties for talks, Trump said, "he has," without elaborating. The president called the development "very positive." The White House declined to provide further details.
"Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect," Trump said. "I understand him; he understands me."
Trump's renewed overtures to Kim come at a time when the US relationship with South Korea is under pressure following the president's imposition of tariffs on South Korean products. Trump has turned to Seoul as a source of direct investment in the US and as a partner to help rebuild the American shipbuilding industry after years of decline.
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It was not immediately clear whether Seoul was involved in or informed of the reported interaction between Washington and Pyongyang. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has taken a series of steps to improve ties with North Korea but Pyongyang has largely rebuffed those efforts, urging Washington to first recognize it as a legitimate nuclear state. South Korea's presidential office declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg News.
The US president on Sunday directed the Pentagon to curb joint military exercises with South Korea out of frustration that Seoul didn't provide more support for his war with Iran. Critics have said the move could weaken US deterrence in the region against adversaries including China and North Korea.
| The president rejected that criticism, saying he was making the region "much safer" through his relationship with Kim. "You know, he didn't like Biden. He didn't like Obama," Trump said of the North Korean leader, referring to his predecessors. "He didn't like anybody. But I get along with them very well. No, what I'm doing is making things safer. Just the opposite." It was not immediately clear how Trump's instruction has impacted the allies' annual exercises that began this week. South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Monday the drills were proceeding as planned. Trump met with Kim three times during his first presidency but the talks failed to curb Kim's nuclear ambitions and the issue had been less prominent since Trump's return to office. "President Donald Trump's surprise move to scale back US-South Korea military exercises - just hours before they were set to begin - points more to worsening ties with Seoul than improving relations with Pyongyang," said Adam Farrar, a senior geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics and former director on the US National Security Council covering Korea in both the Trump and Biden administrations. ALSO READ: 'We Get Along Great': Trump Jokes About 'Unfriendly Look' In Throwback Photo With Kim Jong Un "They could mark the start of a broader US effort to pressure Seoul, posing fresh risks to the alliance," Farrar said. |
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