White House says Trump-Kim meeting not on agenda for Asia trip

A White House official confirmed that President Trump's upcoming Asia trip does not include a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, even as the administration maintains that Trump remains open to talks with Pyongyang without preconditions.

The confirmation focuses attention on Trump's planned two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14-15 — an event with sweeping implications for trade, Taiwan security and Middle East diplomacy that Korean-American communities across the U.S. are closely monitoring for its ripple effects on the Korean Peninsula.

A White House official told Yonhap News Agency via email that "such a meeting is not currently on the schedule," responding to questions about whether Trump might seek an encounter with Kim during the May Asia visit, The Korea Times reported Monday.

Trump is set to hold a two-day summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14 and 15. Agenda items are expected to include trade disputes, Taiwan security and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, according to The Korea Times. The administration is also pursuing separate peace negotiations with Iran, further crowding the diplomatic calendar.

Despite the absence of a scheduled encounter with Pyongyang, the White House has signaled that Trump is willing to engage North Korea without preconditions, The Korea Times reported.

During his first term, Trump and Kim held three face-to-face summits: in Singapore in June 2018, in Hanoi in February 2019 and at Panmunjom in June 2019. The Hanoi talks collapsed without an agreement, and U.S.-North Korea diplomacy largely stalled in the years that followed.

Analysts said the packed China summit agenda — combined with Iran diplomacy — makes scheduling a separate North Korea session during this trip a practical challenge, according to The Korea Times.

The White House did not rule out future diplomatic contact with North Korea but offered no indication of when such engagement might be pursued following the Asia trip.