President Donald Trump has publicly expressed his willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, yet Pyongyang remains silent. As speculation grows about a potential replay of the impromptu diplomacy that led to the historic 2019 Panmunjom summit, North Korea appears to be adopting a wait-and-see approach.
Six Years Ago: Tweet Diplomacy Led to a Panmunjom Summit in Just One Day
On June 29, 2019, at 7:51 a.m., while attending the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, President Trump tweeted, “If Kim sees this, I would be willing to meet him at the DMZ to shake his hand and say hello!”
Approximately five hours later, at 1:06 p.m., North Korea responded positively with a statement from then-First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, describing it as a very interesting suggestion.
Subsequently, both sides communicated directly between the United Nations (UN) Command and the North Korean military. The U.S. proposed working-level talks for a demilitarized (DMZ) meeting, which North Korea accepted, prompting serious preparations. That evening, reports indicated that Stephen Biegun, then U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, and Allison Hooker, the White House National Security Council’s Korea advisor, visited the North Korean side of Panmunjom to meet with officials.
On June 30, 2019, at 3:46 p.m., Kim appeared at the North Korean Panmungak and shook hands with President Trump near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Trump then crossed the line for about 20 seconds, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil. This meeting occurred four months after the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, and it took just 32 hours from the tweet to the actual meeting.
Trump Wants to Meet Kim, but North Korea Only Reports on Choe’s Trip to Russia
Based on the scenario from six years ago, for a spontaneous meeting to occur this year, North Korea would need to clarify its position on meeting President Trump by Tuesday, or at the latest, by the morning of Wednesday.
President Trump is scheduled to stay in Gyeongju from Wednesday to Friday for a two-day visit. Given the need for preliminary procedures such as U.S.-North Korea coordination, a minimum amount of time is required.
On upcoming Wednesday, President Trump will hold a summit with President Lee Jae Myung, and on Friday, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He is set to board a flight back to Washington on the evening of Friday.
Analysts suggest that North Korea’s response might come in the form of a statement released through state media, similar to 2019, or it could utilize the New York Channel for communication between the U.S. and North Korea.
Meanwhile, on October 26, North Korea announced that Foreign Minister Choe plans to visit Russia and Belarus. This disclosure of a key official’s overseas schedule comes as Kim potentially prepares for a meeting with President Trump.
Although North Korea did not disclose specific dates for Choe’s overseas trip, consecutive visits to Russia and Belarus could potentially take several days.
While a meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders is not impossible without Foreign Minister Choe, she played a critical role during the first and second U.S.-North Korea summits in 2018 and 2019, and she issued statements during the surprise meeting at Panmunjom.