U.S. President Donald Trump has extended multiple invitations to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his visit to South Korea this week, with Seoul officials publicly supporting the idea.
So far, Pyongyang has remained silent, and U.S. and South Korean officials have said that no concrete plans for a meeting are in place. Before Trump’s departure from Washington, North Korea conducted a test launch of what it described as a new hypersonic ballistic missile.
Trump has used his tour of Asia to highlight his willingness to meet Kim, aiming to revive the series of summits the two leaders held during his first term.
“I had a good relationship with him,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I’d love to see him if he wants to — if he even gets this message. We haven’t mentioned anything, but he knows I’m going there. If he’d like to meet, I’d be happy to.”
When asked what leverage he could use to bring Kim back to negotiations, Trump pointed to sanctions. “That’s pretty big to start off with,” he said. “I’d say that’s about as strong as you can get.”
The pair previously held summits in 2018 and 2019 before talks collapsed over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. North Korea remains under strict international sanctions due to its nuclear and ballistic missile development.
Last month, Kim signalled a potential willingness to meet Trump if the United States abandoned its demands for denuclearisation, while ruling out dialogue with South Korea. “Personally, I still have fond memories of U.S. President Trump,” Kim said in a speech carried by the Korean Central News Agency. “If the U.S. drops its absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, seeking genuine peaceful coexistence, there would be no reason not to sit down with them.”
However, there is no indication that such a meeting will take place. A U.S. official confirmed that a visit to the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea had been considered but not scheduled.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June and has aimed to reduce tensions with Pyongyang, has suggested that Trump could use his visit to open a new dialogue.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said North Korea might respond to Trump’s proposal by Tuesday or Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told parliament that Trump’s reference to North Korea as a “nuclear power” and hints at easing sanctions could encourage Kim to engage.
“However, compared to 2017 and 2018, North Korea has now formed a military alliance with Russia and deepened its ties with China,” Cho added.
On Monday, North Korea’s foreign minister met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two countries signed a strategic partnership last year, including a mutual defence pact, and Pyongyang has reportedly sent troops, artillery, ammunition, and missiles to support Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, Trump met with the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago.
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In a sweeping diplomatic push in Baku, Georgia and Azerbaijan have signed a landmark package of energy and transport agreements, cementing a partnership set to shape the South Caucasus corridor for decades to come.
The first-ever “WUF13 NGO Forum” in the history of the World Urban Forum (WUF) was held on 19 May 2026 at Azerbaijan’s initiative in Baku.
Germany will deploy a Patriot air-defence battery to Türkiye in the coming weeks as part of a NATO mission aimed at strengthening the alliance’s south-eastern flank, German officials have said.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for closer security coordination between Central Asia and China, warning that expanding trade and infrastructure links are exposing the region to increasingly sophisticated cross-border threats.
The World Urban Forum (WUF13) continues in Baku, Azerbaijan on 18 May, addressing the global housing crisis. The day’s agenda includes the official opening press conference, the WUF13 Urban Expo opening and a ministerial dialogue on the Nairobi Declaration to advance Africa's urban agenda.
United Nations World Urban Forum 13 continues in Baku, Azerbaijan on 19 May with sessions and roundtable discussions focused on strengthening dialogue and advancing cooperation in urban development. Organisers say there are nearly 3 billion people globally who face some form of housing inadequacy.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had paused a planned attack on Iran after appeals from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, allowing negotiations to continue over a possible deal to end the conflict.
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck China’s Guangxi region early on Monday, killing two people and forcing more than 7,000 residents in Liuzhou to evacuate as rescue efforts continued.
Azerbaijan and Georgia have agreed to resume daily passenger train services on the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku route from 26 May, 2026, marking a major step in restoring regional rail connectivity after services were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Germany will deploy a Patriot air-defence battery to Türkiye in the coming weeks as part of a NATO mission aimed at strengthening the alliance’s south-eastern flank, German officials have said.
Estonia said on Tuesday (19 May) that a NATO fighter jet shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over its territory, in the latest reported airspace violation in the region amid ongoing Ukrainian strikes against Russia.
Sweden has agreed to buy four naval frigates from France’s Naval Group in a deal worth more than $4 billion, as Stockholm moves to strengthen its defence capabilities in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.
Spanish police said on Tuesday they had detained a 25-year-old man suspected of killing his two parents and injuring four other people, including his son, in a shooting in the southern city of El Ejido in Almeria province overnight.
European Union negotiators are expected to agree on Tuesday (19 May) on legislation removing import duties on U.S. industrial goods, in a move aimed at implementing last year’s trade agreement with the United States and avoiding higher tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
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