Trump pushes new North Korea summit as a diversion from other crises

Donald Trump has launched a fresh public campaign to arrange another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, posting nostalgic images on Truth Social and scaling down annual US-South Korea drills. Kim Yo-jong, North Korea’s second-in-command, declared the regime uninterested in a new meeting unless Washington abandons denuclearisation demands and halts all military exercises. The South Korean National Intelligence Service briefed legislators that signs of dialogue could permit a summit at any moment.

Kim appears to be raising the stakes, demanding arms-control negotiations and formal recognition of North Korea’s nuclear status, while also deploying troops to support Russia in Ukraine. The overture comes amid a tangled global backdrop involving Iran-US hostilities, Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and shifting Chinese trade with Pyongyang, prompting South Korean public opinion to tilt toward an independent nuclear deterrent.