South Korean Minister Encourages Trump To Meet Kim Jong Un During His Visit To Asia

US President Donald Trump/PHOTO via Instagram @whitehouse

JAKARTA - South Korea's Unification Minister asked US President Donald Trump to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to Asia. South Korean ministers urged the two leaders to take advantage of the rare opportunity for peace.

As reported by Reuters from Yonhap on Friday, October 24, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who is Seoul's main policymaker for relations between the two Koreas, said Trump's visit to South Korea was an "open opportunity from heaven" that could help improve North Korea's global reputation and economy.

"North Korean and US leaders should not miss this opportunity," Chung told South Korean media, as quoted by Yonhap.

"They need to make bold decisions," he continued.

Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his previous term as president but failed to reach an agreement to end Pyongyang's nuclear program due to dissent over the lifting of sanctions and how to destroy North Korea's nuclear facilities.

Officials in Seoul, including South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, are skeptical that a new meeting could take place next week, but welcome the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough with Pyongyang if that happens.

Trump left Washington on Friday evening for a five-day trip covering Malaysia, Japan and South Korea -- his first visit to the region since taking office in January.

Chung said the visit was an opportunity to avoid the preparations and coordination usually needed for a meeting between the leaders of the two sworn enemies, which otherwise would make it difficult for them to meet.

"This will help North Korea's international reputation and improve the lives of its people ... and for that, peace and stability need to be guaranteed, and that is only possible by meeting with President Trump," Chung said.

Trump met Kim in the ceasefire village of Panmunjom which was located on the inter-Korean border in 2019 on a hasty regulated trip soon after his visit to Japan for a global summit.