U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year, while also discussing trade and security ties with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during the latter’s first official visit to Washington.
“I’d like to meet him this year,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he sat alongside Lee. “I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”
The two leaders sought to project unity despite ongoing frictions over trade, nuclear energy, and defence spending. Their meeting comes weeks after both governments signed a trade deal in July that spared South Korean exports from steeper U.S. tariffs but left unresolved disputes over military costs and nuclear cooperation.
Following the White House talks, Lee attended a U.S.-Korea business forum with senior officials and corporate leaders. In a symbolic show of economic partnership, Korean Air announced the largest aircraft order in its history103 planes from Boeing.
Pyongyang has yet to respond to Trump’s outreach. Instead, state media reiterated its longstanding opposition to U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, accusing Washington of harbouring “occupation” plans for the Korean peninsula.
Kim has so far ignored Trump’s repeated calls to revive direct diplomacy since Trump’s return to the White House in January. Their earlier rounds of talks between 2017 and 2021 produced no binding deal to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme.
At a Washington policy forum after the summit, Lee warned that sanctions alone had failed to deter Pyongyang. He said intelligence suggested North Korea could now produce between 10 and 20 nuclear warheads annually and was close to developing a re-entry vehicle capable of delivering those weapons to the United States.
Praise and Pleasantries
Unlike some previous high-profile visits to the White House, Lee struck a light-hearted tone in his exchanges with Trump. He praised the Republican president’s interior design choices, recalled reading Trump: The Art of the Deal in preparation for the meeting, and even joked about a “Trump World” real-estate complex in North Korea.
“I hope you can bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, the only divided nation in the world, so that you can meet with Kim Jong Un, build a Trump World in North Korea so that I can play golf there, and so that you can truly play a role as a world-historical peacemaker,” Lee said.
Lee also invited Trump to attend October’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, suggesting the gathering could provide an opportunity for a meeting with Kim.
Difficult Issues Persist
Despite the warm exchanges, the leaders remained at odds over defence spending and military deployments. Trump, who has frequently referred to South Korea as a “money machine,” hinted he may seek greater contributions for the upkeep of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed there. Asked whether he might reduce troop numbers, Trump said only: “I don’t want to say that now.”
Lee, meanwhile, signalled reluctance to accept U.S. demands for “flexibility” in deploying forces for broader regional operations, including those related to China.
The discussions also touched on sensitive domestic issues. Trump claimed he had “intel” regarding South Korean investigations into churches and a military base, though the White House offered no further details. Lee’s government has recently overseen raids tied to investigations of his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, whose far-right evangelical supporters have accused the current administration of persecution.
As both allies navigate shifting regional security challenges, Trump’s overture to Kim Jong Un adds another layer of uncertainty to an already complex diplomatic landscape.
