Trump Plans Year-End Summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he intends to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in person before the end of the year. The statement was made amid joint US-South Korea military exercises that Trump subsequently ordered cut short by six days.

Pyongyang Denies Any Knowledge of Planned Talks

Kim Yo Jong — the sister of Kim Jong Un and one of the most powerful figures in the Pyongyang leadership — responded swiftly, stating that North Korea had "no knowledge" of any planned diplomatic contacts. The very next day after Trump's announcement, North Korea fired approximately ten short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast, according to the South Korean military.

North Korea Wants Full Cancellation of Military Drills

Kim Yo Jong dismissed Trump's decision to shorten the military exercises as "not worthy of comment" and derided South Korea as a "puppet." According to media reports, Pyongyang would only accept a complete cancellation of the drills as a "goodwill gesture" — a reduction in scope is not enough.

Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, confirmed to DW that North Korea had made its position clear: partial concessions would not suffice. Choo Jae-woo, a foreign policy expert at Kyung-Hee University, noted that Pyongyang currently occupies a stronger negotiating position than during Trump's first term. Kim Jong Un was humiliated in Hanoi in 2019 when Trump walked away from talks without a deal, and he is unlikely to enter new negotiations without stronger guarantees. Experts expect Kim to demand more substantial concessions before agreeing to any summit.