Trump Seeks Meeting With Kim, North Korea Responds With 10 Missiles

US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again later this year. Amid ongoing joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, North Korea has responded by launching around 10 ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast.

Trump said on Wednesday that a meeting with Kim could take place later this year during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China. The US State Department also said Washington is prepared to engage with North Korea without preconditions.

However, Pyongyang has signaled that it may demand major changes in US policy before returning to negotiations. Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, described the decision to reduce the scale of US-South Korea military exercises as insufficient. She said continuing the exercises showed that Washington’s policy toward North Korea remained hostile.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s military said North Korea launched around 10 ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast on Thursday. Analysts believe the launches may have been a response to the ongoing US-South Korea military drills.

Experts say North Korea could demand the withdrawal of what it considers hostile US policies and a change in Washington’s approach to Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities before agreeing to new talks.

Trump and Kim held several unprecedented meetings in 2018 and 2019, but diplomatic efforts eventually collapsed over disagreements about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Whether the two sides can resume direct talks this time will depend largely on how flexible both Washington and Pyongyang are willing to be.