Trump Claims Kim Jong Un Responded to Renewed Outreach After Scaling Back U.S.-South Korea Military Drills

U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his latest efforts to re-establish direct contact, a day after ordering a significant reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said, "He responded," when asked whether Kim had replied to his renewed outreach. However, the president did not explain how or when the response was delivered.

The White House did not immediately provide additional details, while North Korea's mission to the United Nations declined to comment.

Trump's remarks came a day after he directed the United States to significantly scale back its joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited the cost of the drills and South Korea's decision not to participate in recent U.S. operations against Iran as reasons for the move. North Korea has long condemned the joint exercises, describing them as rehearsals for a potential invasion.

Trump's relationship with Kim Jong Un drew global attention during his first term in office. The two leaders met in 2018 and 2019 in an unprecedented series of summits aimed at negotiating North Korea's nuclear weapons program. However, the talks eventually collapsed without reaching an agreement.

Despite the failure of those negotiations, Trump has continued to express interest in resuming direct diplomacy with the North Korean leader.

"Kim Jong Un has always shown me great respect," Trump said on Monday, adding, "I understand him, and he understands me."

Meanwhile, North Korea has strengthened its ties with Russia in recent years while maintaining close relations with China. Multiple governments and analysts have reported that North Korean troops have participated alongside Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.

Analysts say Pyongyang may not respond immediately to Trump's latest overture, although they do not rule out the possibility of another summit between the two leaders.

Victor Cha, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said North Korea may choose to wait before engaging. He suggested that the Trump administration's renewed focus on Pyongyang could also be influenced by domestic political considerations amid challenges arising from the conflict with Iran.

Andrew Yeo of the Brookings Institution said another meeting with Trump could also benefit Kim. With North Korea enjoying closer ties with Russia and China, Kim has relatively little to lose from renewed diplomacy and could instead enhance his international standing through another high-profile summit with the U.S. president.

Although North Korea's state-run media did not directly comment on Trump's remarks, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried comments from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, saying that Russia and North Korea are working together to build a "new and just world order."