President Donald Trump’s next summit with Kim Jong-un could take place in New York at the annual gathering of the United Nations.
A report in Axios on Monday said that Trump was considering a second sit down with Kim in New York while the international body is holding its general assembly.
For Trump to meet with Kim, however, he would have to see serious movement in the direction of denucleraization, the news outlet reported.
A spokesperson for the president’s National Security Council wasn’t available to comment.
North Korea has a permanent mission in New York City, which served as the location last month for a meeting between America’s chief diplomat and Kim’s second in command.
Trump then hosted a North Korean delegation at the White House for talks, after which he said he would move forward with a planned summit that was on the books but he later cancelled.
The president at the time said it was likely to take several in-person conversations with Kim for the U.S. to get a nuclear agreement. He acknowledged at a press conference that he could even host Kim at the White House.
‘Certainly if it goes well, and I think it would be well received, I think he would look at it very favorably, so I think that could happen,’ he said.
His admission came amid reports that he could treat Kim to a golf weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
‘Maybe we’ll start with the White House. What do you think?’ the president instead said.
Trump’s summit with Kim in Singapore had the U.S. president declaring that he and the dictator had developed a great relationship that would soon bear the fruits of his labor.
A joint communique that Trump and Kim signed said that North Korea would completely denuclearize without offering a timeline or any or logistical information.
No sooner than the ink had dried, Trump was touting the statement as a major accomplishment.
He claimed in repeated interviews that Kim was likely to denuclearize as soon as he returned to Pyongyang.
Kim has taken no visible steps, however, to fulfill the terms of the agreement in the three weeks since they met. The site 38North, which keeps tabs on North Korea’s nuclear activities, says that no apparent steps to stop conducing scientific researched had been made.
A day after returning from the trip Trump also bragged that he established a direct hotline to Kim. It’s unclear from the president’s statements whether either of the men have used it.
He has in the past said it would inappropriate for him to comment on his conversations with Kim.
With the installation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, much of the interfacing with North Korea is being run out of Foggy Bottom.
Pompeo has made trips to countries in the region meet with U.S. allies invested in the issue in the days since the Singapore summit.
The former CIA chief in an interview last week with CNN, said that the U.S. still does not have a timeline for denuclearization and he does not want to rush it.
‘Whether that’s two months, six months, we are committed to moving forward in an expeditious moment to see if we can achieve what both leaders set out to do,’ the secretary of state said.
Trump has meanwhile turned his attention to meeting with another U.S. nemesis: Vladimir Putin of Russia.
The two leaders are due to meet in two weeks in Helsinki, Finland, at their own summit.