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North Korea-US summit appears possible at any time, Seoul spy agency says
🇸🇬 Singapore /Elections & Politics

North Korea-US summit appears possible at any time, Seoul spy agency says

From CNA · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • South Korea’s National Intelligence Service assessed that another US-North Korea summit could take place at any time, although no concrete contact has been confirmed.
  • The assessment follows statements by Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un’s government indicating that relations between the leaders remain open, despite limited public movement toward talks.
  • Analysts cited in the report said North Korea may have little incentive to negotiate while benefiting from closer ties with Russia and amid regional confrontation.

A new US-North Korea summit may be possible at any time, according to an assessment from South Korea’s spy agency, but Seoul also said it has no evidence of concrete contact between Washington and Pyongyang.

Lawmaker Youn Kun-young told reporters that the National Intelligence Service had identified signs of dialogue. The assessment came after US President Donald Trump said last month that he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again. Pyongyang’s public response has remained limited, leaving analysts doubtful that talks were imminent.

Regarding the North Korea-US summit, there was an analysis that it should be viewed as possible at any time.

— Youn Kun-youngThe South Korean lawmaker cited the National Intelligence Service’s assessment.

Trump has said it is important to “get along” with Kim and claimed that North Korea now has 57 powerful nuclear weapons. North Korea later said Kim had “good memories and feelings” about Trump and that the relationship remained “excellent”, without clearly accepting the US president’s proposal.

It was stated that while no facts regarding concrete contact between the two sides have been presented, there are signs of dialogue.

— Youn Kun-youngHe qualified the assessment by saying that direct contact had not been confirmed.

The discussion has unfolded alongside changes to US-South Korean military exercises. Washington reduced joint drills in August, a decision that alarmed US allies in Asia and prompted speculation about a possible diplomatic gain. North Korea then fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area. Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister, called the reduction in drills Seoul’s “comeuppance”. Pyongyang also criticized maritime exercises involving the United States, South Korea and Japan scheduled to begin on Sept. 7.

Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea appeared to have little reason to seek talks with the United States. He pointed to Pyongyang’s position as a beneficiary of the Russia-Ukraine war and its deepening confrontation with South Korea and Japan. Trump and Kim held three summits during Trump’s first term, including one in which Trump said they were “in love”, but those meetings produced no denuclearization agreement or tangible progress.

From North Korea's perspective, as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Russia-Ukraine war and the deepening confrontation with South Korea, the US and Japan on one side and North Korea, China and Russia on the other, there appears to be little incentive for dialogue.

— Yang Moo-jinThe former university president explained why he believed Pyongyang had limited motivation to negotiate.
About this summary

Originally published by CNA in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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