A possible meeting had been discussed for the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, China.
In August, Trump said he planned to meet Kim later this year. South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers late last month that there was a 50% chance of a meeting during the APEC summit.
However, Trump played down the prospect this week, saying he was unsure whether anyone was seeking a meeting. “I get along with him very well, and I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting,” he told reporters at the White House.
South Korean officials have indicated that preparations have not advanced. Seoul’s ambassador to Washington, Kang Kyung-wha, said last week there had been no concrete progress towards a summit.
Another South Korean official said Pyongyang had shown no signs of preparing for a meeting.
A White House official said Trump remained willing to speak with Kim without preconditions, adding that there were no meetings to announce. The official said the leaders would meet “at the appropriate time”.
North Korea has signalled that it would impose tough conditions for a summit, potentially including sanctions relief.
Pyongyang may be seeking a public signal from Washington that its policy could change.
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, estimated the chance of a meeting at the APEC summit at less than 10%.
He said recent US steps to scale back military exercises with South Korea had not been enough to prompt Pyongyang.
Washington has sometimes sought China’s help in encouraging dialogue, given Beijing’s close ties with North Korea.
But talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have not produced a breakthrough with Pyongyang.
Trump and Kim’s meetings in 2018 and 2019 were historic but failed to deliver concrete agreements on denuclearisation.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the 1950-1953 conflict ended with an armistice.
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