Despite Trump’s willingness to meet Kim Jong Un during his visit to South Korea, Kim cannot risk another fruitless photo opportunity or failed negotiation before his own people without a clear guarantee of recognition for his country’s nuclear status.
President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Kim Jong Un during his trip to Asia, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he was willing to engage if the opportunity arose.
When asked whether he would recognize North Korea as a nuclear state, Trump replied, “I think they’re sort of a nuclear power… they’ve got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”
It is crucial to distinguish between Trump’s diplomatic rhetoric and his actual policy. His remarks to reporters are often spontaneous and not always consistent with his administration’s official positions. Trump’s reference to North Korea as “sort of a nuclear power” does not necessarily mean that the United States intends to formally recognize its nuclear status.
Rather, this reflects Trump’s characteristic diplomatic style—using provocative or flexible language as a negotiating tool rather than as a policy declaration. His comments are designed to entice Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table, treating engagement as a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
However, Kim Jong Un now understands Trump’s tactics and the limits of his diplomacy much more clearly than he did during their summits in Trump's first term. He learned that lesson the hard way—through significant disappointment and humiliation in the 2019 Hanoi summit.
Given that experience, Kim is unlikely to risk another meeting at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during Trump’s visit to South Korea unless Trump can offer a concrete guarantee: formal recognition of North Korea’s nuclear status.
Without such assurance, Kim has little incentive to engage. Another fruitless photo opportunity or failed negotiation would only expose him to embarrassment before his own people—a risk he can no longer afford to take.
