With North Korea supplying troops and even ballistic missiles to Russia in its war against Ukraine, the Trump administration has new interest in restarting dialogue with dictator Kim Jong Un's rogue regime.
When former President Barack Obama left office in January 2017 he told President Donald Trump that North Korea's nuclear weapon designs would be the top foreign policy issue to address in that near term, and Trump subsequently held direct summits with Kim.
Despite that progress, North Korea gained traction in its nuclear and ballistic missiles under President Joe Biden, including supplying weapons and troops to Vladimir Putin's war machine during its war in Ukraine.
The return to direct talks with Kim is back in the plans for this Trump administration, sources told Axios on Sunday.
"We are convening agencies to understand where the North Koreans are today," a senior U.S. official told Axios. "A lot has changed in the last four years. We are evaluating, diagnosing, and talking about potential avenues, including engagement."
A return to direct summits with Kim is among the options being considered in "closed-door discussions," according to Brookings Institution senior fellow Andrew Yeo.
Talks with the U.S. had gone cold with the Biden administration, and the Kim regime even removed or demoted its diplomatic officials that had worked previously with the Trump administration, according to the report.
"The North Koreans don't seem to have named a new special envoy for U.S. diplomacy, and they haven't expressed interest in negotiations for a long time," the Stimson Center's Jenny Town told Axios.
"Their position has been less negative about the prospects for negotiations lately, although they haven't said anything positive either."
Once-hoped-for denuclearization is likely off the table for Kim, with North Korea's nuclear power designs now enshrined into its country's constitution and the Kim family legacy, according to Axios.
But U.S. recognition of North Korea as a nuclear power would be of interest to Kim in bringing him back to the table for arms control talks, as a former official added to Axios, "they'll have those talks all day."
"We are in a much worse situation today," the senior U.S. official told Axios, noting Biden's cold war with North Korea has proved to be a setback for future Trump talks.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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