Reaffirming that U.S. policy on North Korea remains unchanged, the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump is willing to speak with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "without any preconditions," when asked by reporters about the possibility of talks.
The comments came a day after Kim said Pyongyang has "no reason not to get along with the U.S." if Washington withdraws what he called its "hostile policy," during a key party congress that wrapped up its week-long gathering.
Kim said, "The prospects for [North Korea]–U.S. relations depend entirely on the attitude of the U.S. side," while making no mention of the South, even as Seoul has repeatedly made conciliatory gestures as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.
In this atmosphere, the possibility of talks between Trump and Kim now appears on the horizon, coinciding with Trump's planned trip to China later next month.
Trump met Kim three times during his first term - the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi, Viet Nam in February 2019, and the last at the inter-Korean border truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019.
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