The 2019 Panmunjom meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. EPA Yonhap News file photo. 

CNN reported on the 18th (local time) that U.S. government officials have been privately discussing the possibility of President Donald Trump meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his upcoming visit to Asia, drawing attention to whether the report holds true. 

Considering that CNN has been at odds with the Trump administration and has been criticized for having significantly limited access to information from the inner circle, it is difficult to accept the report entirely at face value. 

In this report, CNN noted that many of its sources remain skeptical about whether a North Korea-U.S. summit will ultimately take place, even as they relayed these internal discussions within the Trump administration.

President Trump is planning to tour Asia at the end of this month, including a visit to South Korea ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which opens in Gyeongju on the 31st.

According to CNN, sources familiar with the matter stated that while the Trump administration has discussed the possibility of a meeting between the two leaders, no serious plans necessary for an actual summit have been made.

The sources added that, unlike during President Trump's first term, there is currently no communication taking place between the U.S. and North Korea.

Two of the sources also claimed that the Trump administration attempted to reach out to North Korea earlier this year, but North Korea did not accept the correspondence, resulting in no response.

CNN reported that amidst escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, the White House is more focused on a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during President Trump’s upcoming Asia tour.

Furthermore, citing South Korean government sources, CNN claimed that although the White House security team visited South Korea twice ahead of President Trump’s visit for the APEC summit, they did not survey the Panmunjom area.

The possibility of a North Korea-U.S. summit coinciding with APEC began to circulate in earnest when President Trump expressed his willingness to meet Chairman Kim within this year during the U.S.-South Korea summit held at the White House on August 25.

Public interest in a meeting between the two leaders grew further after Chairman Kim Jong-un expressed direct interest in talks with President Trump during the 13th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly last month.

At the time, North Korean state media reported that Chairman Kim said, "Personally, I have good memories of the current U.S. President Trump," adding, "If the U.S. sheds its absurd obsession with denuclearization and seeks genuine peaceful coexistence with us based on acknowledging reality, there is no reason we cannot stand face-to-face with the U.S."

Subsequently, when asked by Yonhap News on the 30th of last month whether the "Trump administration is open to talks with North Korea without mentioning the nuclear issue (as recently suggested by Chairman Kim)," a White House official stated, "President Trump remains open to talks with Kim Jong-un without any preconditions."

President Trump and Chairman Kim held summits in Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam, in June 2018 and February 2019, respectively, during Trump's first term.

The two then held a surprise meeting at Panmunjom in June 2019.

There is a precedent where President Trump, while attending the G20 summit in Japan, tweeted a proposal for a "Panmunjom meeting" to Chairman Kim on June 29, 2019, and the meeting took place the very next day after North Korea issued a positive response five hours later.

Therefore, some in diplomatic circles suggest that one cannot completely rule out the possibility that President Trump, who is not constrained by diplomatic protocol, might propose another "flash meeting" via social media to Chairman Kim during his visit to Asia, even without prior coordination between the two countries.

Han-Mi Daily · Yonhap News