Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that there might be a possibility of meeting the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, during his upcoming Asia trip in mid-November and further expressed that the opportunity might be an “exciting one.”When asked about the possibility of meeting the North Korean leader, Trump told reporters, “I may…That’ll be exciting, won’t it? But I get along with him.” Trump had met Kim Jong Un three times during his first term as president.
Trump will be visiting China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, which will take place in Shenzhen on November 18-19. The statement comes as earlier in August, US President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in the annual joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost, his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and concerns that the drills send an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to Pyongyang.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said he was unhappy that the United States had previously agreed to participate in the joint exercises with South Korea.”Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I was not happy with the fact that the United States had, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump said.
“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” he added.
Trump said that since it was too late to cancel the exercises, he instructed US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce them.”Therefore, and based on the fact that it was too late to cancel, I instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump said.
Following the order, South Korea and the United States wrapped up their primary theatre-level combined military exercise on August 21, nearly a week ahead of schedule, Yonhap News Agency reported.The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, typically an 11-day event involving command-post simulations and live field manoeuvres for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula, was halved to five days. The rollback has been widely viewed as a conciliatory gesture by Trump towards Kim Jong Un.
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