Trump has taken an atypical approach to North Korea – a secretive communist totalitarian state largely isolated on the world stage – and its attempts at creating nuclear weapons, initially taunting Kim as a “little rocket man”.<\/p>\n
The pair met face-to-face three times during Trump’s previous tenure in the White House but failed to agree a denuclearisation programme. North Korea has since conducted multiple tests of intercontinental missiles, its neighbours say.<\/p>\n
Asked if he would recognise North Korea as a nuclear state, Trump told reporters late on Thursday: “I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”<\/p>\n
Kim has said he was open to meeting Trump again, provided the US stopped pursuing its “absurd” demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
“I still have a good memory of President Trump,” Kim said in a speech last month, according to state media.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who handles relations between the North and South, said there was a “considerable” chance the two leaders might meet while Trump is in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum, according to news agency AFP.<\/p>\n
A senior US official told reporters that a meeting was not in Trump’s schedule, according to the Anadolu Agency – though their last meeting in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas came off the back of an invitation by Trump on social media.<\/p>\n
Trump’s first stop will be in Malaysia, where he will attend Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.<\/p>\n
He is expected to land in the South Korean city Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Apec summit. <\/p>\n
He will meet South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung, who discussed peace on the Korean peninsula and the possibility of a Trump-Kim meeting while visiting the White House in August.<\/p>\n