Trump aims to meet North's Kim to 'jump-start' talks, ex-official says
A former National Security Council director for North Korea says Trump could meet Kim Jong-un before November’s midterm elections, with a second summit possible afterward.
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North Korean side of the border at the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, on June 30, 2019.
AP/YONHAP
U.S. President Donald Trump could meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to get talks started before holding a second summit after the U.S. midterm elections in November, a former U.S. official said Friday.
“I think the president will just meet with Kim to jump-start some kind of conversation,” Anthony Ruggiero, who served as the National Security Council director for North Korea during the first Trump administration, said in an interview with U.S. broadcaster PBS.
Ruggiero said a second U.S.-North Korea summit could follow "after the midterms [in early November] or sometime like that next year."
Ruggiero also argued that the United States needs "at least a tacit acknowledgment" that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons. This would allow Washington to focus on issues it considers more pressing, such as the withdrawal of North Korean troops from Ukraine, he said.
The former official acknowledged that his own thinking had recently changed after he had previously focused on North Korea's denuclearization.
“So I think the question for the president and his advisers and his administration is can they get something that is impactful in an agreement with North Korea and then manage others who might see that as a green light to develop their own weapons,” Ruggiero said. “I think we have enough incentives and disincentives to prevent that.”
The former official did not name the countries that could interpret such an approach as a green light to pursue their own nuclear weapons, but appeared to be referring to countries including South Korea and Japan.
Ruggiero also addressed Trump's order to scale back joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises. Earlier in the month, the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint drill was cut to last only five days instead of its originally scheduled 11 days.
“The only surprise to me is that he [Trump] didn't do that last year,” Ruggiero said. “It is something that [Trump] has a very strong view on.”
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
