Trump: Kim Jong Un Responded to US Dialogue Offer

US President Donald Trump said on August 18 that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his offer of dialogue, a day after he ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with longtime ally South Korea.

Asked by reporters in the Oval Office why Kim had not yet responded to his outreach, Trump replied, "How do you know he hasn't responded?" Pressed further, Trump said, "Yes, he has responded," describing the exchange as "very positive" without providing further details. North Korea had no immediate comment.

Earlier, on August 17, Trump directed the Pentagon to "significantly reduce" joint military drills with South Korea. On Truth Social, he wrote that these annual exercises are "not only expensive... but they send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that, as long as Donald J. Trump is president, has not been aggressive and has always been respectful."

Trump also linked the decision to South Korea's refusal to join the US-Israeli war against Iran. "Wait a minute. We have 39,000 troops there, protecting you from Kim Jong Un, your neighbor, and yet you don't help us in a very easy military campaign in Iran. That's strange," he said in the Oval Office.

The White House chief once again questioned US support for South Korea and NATO allies that have declined to contribute to the Iran war effort. "We can't go protect all these countries, especially when they don't help us," he said.

South Korean officials said the exercises proceeded as planned and expressed hope that the personal relationship between Trump and Kim would bring the two sides back to the negotiating table. On August 19, South Korea's presidential office issued a statement saying the drills do not reflect "any intent to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula." President Lee Jae Myung emphasized that the fundamental purpose is "not to regard a specific entity as an adversary, but to protect the safe daily lives and peace of the people."

The relationship between Trump and Kim has received less attention from the White House than during Trump's first term, when the two leaders met and exchanged letters before talks collapsed in 2019 over the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal. Since then, the US president has repeatedly expressed interest in resuming direct diplomacy with the North Korean leader.

Last year, Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, acknowledged that the personal relationship between her brother and Trump was "not bad," but warned that if Washington intended to use that personal ties to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, the effort would only become a laughingstock.

Since their last meeting in 2019, North Korea has significantly strengthened ties with Russia while maintaining close relations with China. North Korean soldiers have fought alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and Kyiv said on August 11 that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia.

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized North Korea's military support for Russia in Ukraine, but on August 18, the US president said, "Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect. I understand him. He understands me."

Analysts suggest that even though North Korea has shown a cool response to Trump's overtures and Kim's position is much stronger than before the previous summit, the possibility of a renewed meeting remains. However, Victor Cha, who heads the Korea program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, doubts North Korea will respond immediately. "I think they'll wait a little longer," he told Reuters.

Cha suggested that part of Trump's motive in revisiting the North Korea issue appears to be to divert attention from the difficulties of the war in Iran, though he clearly still wants to meet Kim again.