President Trump and Chairman Kim have both expressed interest in meeting again, but a U.S. official said a meeting was “not scheduled.”
President Donald Trump will not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip to South Korea next week, a senior US official said, despite speculation about a meeting during the US president’s Asia tour.
“The president has expressed his intention to meet with Kim Jong Un in the future, as well as the president. This visit is not on the schedule,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity during a conference call on Friday.
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President Trump told reporters late Friday night before departing for Asia that he wanted to meet with Kim but was unsure if it would happen.
“He knows I’m going there,” Trump said of the North Korean leader.
Later, on Air Force One, President Trump said of the possibility of meeting with Kim: “I’m 100 percent open to it. I’m very good friends with Kim Jong Un.”
President Trump told me he wants to meet with Kim Jong-un on his trip to Asia, “he knows I’m going there.” https://t.co/zqkyELOsol
— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) October 25, 2025
South Korea’s unification minister said early Friday that he believes there is a “very good chance” that President Trump will meet with Kim during his visit to the South Korean city of Gyeongju next week to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told reporters that North Korea “seems to be paying attention to the United States, and various signs…suggest that a meeting is quite possible,” and called on the two leaders not to “miss” the opportunity.
“We don’t want to miss even one percent of the opportunity,” said Chung, whose ministry is in charge of the rocky relationship between South and North Korea.
“They need to make a decision,” he said.
Although a meeting between Trump and Kim appears unlikely for now, the White House confirmed Thursday that Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before returning to the United States from a multi-day trip to Southeast Asia.
President Trump will begin his visit to Malaysia this weekend, where he is scheduled to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
A number of other prominent leaders from non-ASEAN countries are also scheduled to attend in Malaysia, including Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Fun memories”
Trump and Kim met three times during Trump’s first term as president, and the two leaders have expressed interest in meeting again in recent months.
Last month, Kim said he was willing to hold talks with the United States if it stopped insisting it abandon its nuclear weapons program.
The North Korean leader also commented on President Trump, saying, “Personally, I still have fond memories of US President Trump.”
Kim’s comments came after Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung announced their intention to meet with North Korea during a meeting at the White House in August.
“I’ll meet him someday. I’m looking forward to meeting him. He’s been very good to me,” Trump said at the time, adding that he knew Kim, whose family has ruled North Korea for three generations, “better than just about anyone other than my sister.”
Lee, who has been a vocal supporter of repairing relations with the northern neighbor, said at the same meeting that he wants the U.S. president to “build a Trump Tower” in North Korea “so we can play golf there.”
North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles earlier this week as South Korea prepares to host the APEC summit next week.
