&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Kim Jong Un treated me with great respect': Trump hints at renewed engagement with North Korea")
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has always treated him with “great respect,” hinting at the possibility of talks soon. He said that they share a personal bond, adding that his approach is aimed at making the situation on the Korean Peninsula safer. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said that he had met Kim on multiple occasions and that the two leaders understood each other. Trump contrasted his relationship with Kim with the North Korean leader's reported views of previous US presidents. Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office why Kim had not responded to his efforts to re-engage, Trump responded, "he has." He did not provide further details.
"Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect, and we met on two primary occasions, spoke, and spent time. I understand him. He understands me. I get along with him. You know, he didn't like Biden, he didn't like Obama, he didn't like anybody, but I get along with him very well. Now, what I'm doing is making things safer, just the opposite," Trump said.
This comes after Trump announced a day ago that the US will "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited his "very good relationship" with Kim Jong Un and highlighted South Korea's rejection to join the war in Iran. In a Truth Social post, he said that South Korea had recently declined to join the US in the "denuclearisation" of Iran, adding that the joint these exercises costs a lot to the US. Last week, Trump also posted a picture with Kim Jong Un and joked about their "unfriendly look" while reaffirming that the two get along well.
Trump and Kim Jong Un meeting
Trump and Kim Jong Un met for the first time in 2018 and held a summit in Singapore. In 2019, they held two meetings: the Hanoi Summit in Vietnam and at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. After Hanoi Summit, Kim invited Trump to cross the border line between South and North Korea, and Trump briefly crossed into North Korea. The two had a major photo-op as they shook hands and patted each other's backs. With this, Trump became the first sitting US president to cross into North Korea. Trump and Kim also signed a joint statement, titled "Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit", which Trump described as a "very important" and "comprehensive" agreement. However, the engagements soon derailed after Trump lost the 2020 presidential elections.
