Trump-Kim summit increasingly unlikely as North Korea remains silent - Reuters
The chances of US President Donald Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before the end of 2026 are diminishing, with Pyongyang yet to respond to US outreach, Reuters reported on October 23, citing five people familiar with the situation.
US and South Korean officials see little prospect of a meeting during Trump's upcoming trip to Asia, including the November 18–19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.
North Korea has shown little interest in restarting negotiations over its nuclear program and could demand significant concessions, including sanctions relief, before agreeing to talks.
Trump, who met Kim three times during his first presidential term, said in August that he hoped to meet the North Korean leader again this year.
However, on October 19, he appeared to play down the prospect.
“I get along with him very well, and I'm not sure that anybody's asking for a meeting,” Trump told reporters.
A White House official said Trump remained willing to meet Kim without preconditions but that no meeting had been scheduled.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, estimated the probability of a Trump-Kim meeting at the APEC summit at less than 10%.
South Korean officials have also reported no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a summit.
Trump's previous meetings with Kim in 2018 and 2019 were historic but produced no lasting agreement on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
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