Kim’s China visit revives Trump summit talk, but odds fade before APEC

WASHINGTON — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s surprise visit to China on Saturday has renewed attention to the possibility of another summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The trip echoes Kim’s visits to China before his 2018 and 2019 summits with Trump, but officials in Seoul and Washington see fading chances of a meeting this year.

Kim visited Dandong, China, on Saturday and met with Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and China’s fourth-highest-ranking official.

The visit came less than a month before both Kim and Trump are expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18 and 19.

Trump has repeatedly emphasized his personal relationship with Kim during his second term and expressed a strong desire to resume U.S.-North Korea talks.

In August, Trump said he planned to meet Kim within the year. The comment fueled speculation that the two leaders could resume talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Kim visited China ahead of each of his summits with Trump during Trump’s first term.

Kim traveled to China in March and May 2018 before the first U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore in June that year. He also met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January 2019, a month before his second summit with Trump in Hanoi.

Still, experts caution against interpreting Kim’s latest China trip as groundwork for another U.S.-North Korea summit.

Kim met Xi directly ahead of his previous summits with Trump. This time, however, Kim met Wang, China’s fourth-highest-ranking official, instead of the Chinese president.

The talks also reportedly focused largely on expanding trade following the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge on Oct. 15. The bridge connects Dandong with Sinuiju in North Pyongan Province in North Korea.

Assessments in the United States have also grown more skeptical about the likelihood of a summit, as North Korea has failed to respond to Trump’s repeated interest in restarting talks.

“I don’t know,” Trump said on Monday, when asked about the possibility of meeting Kim during the APEC summit.

South Korean and U.S. officials now see “fading chances” of a U.S.-North Korea summit taking place by the end of the year, according to Reuters.

“The U.S. has received no response from North Korea on holding a Trump-Kim meeting, and there is little time left before a regional summit in China next month where it might occur,” Reuters said on Friday.

North Korea’s effective demand for recognition as a nuclear-armed state as a precondition for resuming dialogue has also been cited as an obstacle to renewed U.S.-North Korea talks.

North Korea has also expanded military and economic cooperation with Russia amid the war in Ukraine and strengthened ties with China. Those improved external economic conditions have fueled analysis that Pyongyang sees little urgency in returning to talks with Washington.

Ultimately, whether another U.S.-North Korea summit takes place could depend on how flexible Trump is on denuclearization.

Asked whether denuclearization remained the goal of renewed talks with Kim, Trump declined to answer directly, saying he didn’t want to talk about it.

The remark fueled speculation that Trump may be trying to entice Kim back to the negotiating table. At the same time, it raised concerns that any renewed U.S.-North Korea dialogue could push denuclearization to the sidelines.

BY KANG TAE-HWA [[email protected]]