White House confirms Trump ready to engage with Kim 'without any preconditions'
Published: 27 Feb. 2026, 09:26
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump hold hands during a summit at the Panmunjom truce village along the inter-Korean border on June 30, 2019. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/02/27/c1329042-23d8-4fda-b090-4b553bb08b18.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump hold hands during a summit at the Panmunjom truce village along the inter-Korean border on June 30, 2019. [YONHAP]
U.S. President Donald Trump remains open to dialogue with North Korea "without any preconditions," the White House said Thursday, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed Pyongyang's willingness to talk with Washington if it drops its "hostile" policy toward his regime.
During a recent key party congress, Kim said that North Korea has "no reason not to get along with the United States" if Washington withdraws its hostile policy, noting that the prospects of U.S.-North Korea ties "entirely depend on the U.S. attitude," according to the North's state media.
"President Trump, in his first term, held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula," a White House spokesperson said in response to a request for comment by Korean media.
"U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed. President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong-un without any preconditions," the spokesperson added.
The statement that there is no change in policy toward North Korea is interpreted as confirming the Trump administration's willingness to engage in unconditional U.S.-North Korea summit talks. It is also analyzed as implying that the Trump administration's fundamental principle of pursuing “complete denuclearization of North Korea” remains unchanged.
Kim has left the door open to resuming diplomacy with the United States, amid speculation that Trump could seek talks with Kim when he visits China from late next month to early April.
Trump had three in-person meetings with Kim during his first term: the first meeting in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.
“We are closely monitoring all relevant developments, keeping all possibilities in mind regarding the potential for North Korea-U.S. dialogue,” said Kang Kyung-wha, Ambassador of South Korea to the United States, regarding Trump's upcoming visit to China and a possible North-U.S. summit.
BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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