Donald Trump has urged his closest aides to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un as early as this fall, during the November APEC summit in Shenzhen, China. He reiterated this in a speech at the White House: it will be held by the end of the year, he assured, also honoring Pyongyang with the status of a nuclear power ("it has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons").

All this despite the North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, emphasizing in an unprecedented and unique statement that she was unaware of any communications between her brother and the tycoon. The possibility of a meeting, reported by the Wall Street Journal, was fueled by Trump's directive to scale back the annual military exercises between Washington and Seoul , halved until Friday compared to the August 27 deadline, as a gesture of openness to bringing Kim back to the negotiating table.

"The fact that I get along with him is a good thing. He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. He should never have allowed this to happen, but now he has them," the tycoon commented, speaking at the White House during a tour of the new helipad.

Now embroiled in a war of his own making to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a dialogue with Kim could be an opportunity for diplomatic success, analysts say, as victory in Iran remains elusive. Trump has long viewed his personal relationship with the hermit state's leader, built over three summits during his first term, as a substitute for institutional diplomacy with Pyongyang. "Some members of Trump's staff were surprised that Kim didn't reciprocate Trump's expressed interest in meeting with him during Trump's visit to South Korea last fall. If anything, Kim now has even less incentive to meet with Trump. And by making his interest public, Trump is driving up the price of the deal ," noted Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution in a post on X. Trump had expressed willingness to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea for the APEC summit in Gyeongju last October.

His team had considered a visit to Panmunjom, on the inter-Korean border, but Pyongyang never responded. Analysts have emphasized that North Korea has far fewer incentives than before to engage in denuclearization talks. . For example, according to new satellite photos, Daily NK, a Seoul-based website specializing in North Korean affairs, noted that the sludge at North Korea's Pyongsan uranium plant has increased by approximately 0.8 hectares in nine months due to ore refining. North Korea has also forged . Kim appears more determined than ever to exploit the changing geopolitical landscape to secure North Korea's long-awaited international recognition as a nuclear power.