Trump is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim while he’s in East Asia for APEC forum

President Trump said he would be willing to extend his Asia trip if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un wanted to meet him.

Mr. Trump said he had a good relationship with Mr. Kim during his first term, and it would make sense to see him after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea.

“If he’d like to meet, I’m around. I’ll be in South Korea so I can be right over there,” Mr. Trump told reporters en route to Japan from Malaysia.

For years, Mr. Trump boasted about his ability to connect with Mr. Kim, a strongman with a tight grip on his isolated country. 

North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions have bedeviled recent U.S. presidents, and Mr. Trump tried to court Mr. Kim with plans for redeveloping his country’s coastline and other economic improvements.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim held three face-to-face meetings during Mr. Trump’s term, though the broad agreement sought by the U.S. president — one that would end or at least greatly limit North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief — never materialized. 

Mr. Kim has strengthened his weapons program since then, and the prospects of a meeting remain low. North Korea wants to be recognized as a nuclear

Still, Mr. Trump’s presence in the region restarted buzz about a get-together.

“I just had a good relationship with him,” Mr. Trump said. “I would love to see him if he wants to,  if he even gets this message. We haven’t mentioned that, but he knows I’m going over there.”

Mr. Kim wants to be recognized as a nuclear power as a precondition for talks.

Mr. Trump recently called North Korea “sort of a nuclear power.”

“I mean, I know how many weapons they have,” Mr. Trump said during his flight to Malaysia over the weekend. “I know everything about them, and I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-Un. When you say they have to be recognized as a nuclear power, well, they’ve got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”