The team of US President-elect Donald Trump is discussing holding direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, hoping the new contacts could reduce the risks of armed conflict, Reuters reported, citing informed sources. BTA.
Trump's team believes direct contact with Kim is the best approach to breaking the ice with Kim, years after the two traded insults and after what Trump called a "beautiful" letters that were part of a then-unprecedented diplomatic effort during his first term as president, agency sources said.
The president-elect has not made a final decision on the matter, they add. So far, there is no comment from the Trump team on the transition in power.
How Kim Jong-un would react is not clear. North Korea has ignored US President Joe Biden's four-year effort to start talks without preconditions, and now Kim is emboldened by his increased missile arsenal and much closer ties with Russia, Reuters notes.
"We have already gone as far as we can in negotiations with the US," Kim said last week in a speech at a military exhibition in Pyongyang.