US President Donald Trump has said he plans to meet Kim Jong Un later this year, claiming he has a good relationship with the North Korean leader.
"Yes, I will meet him," Trump said when asked if he planned talks with Kim.
It's not clear how concrete Trump's plans are. He did not say whether he had even exchanged letters with the North Korean leader, CNN reported.
Last year's efforts for a summit with Kim during Trump's visit to Asia failed, largely due to logistical issues in arranging a meeting on short notice.
White House officials are viewing the upcoming trip to Asia, where a leaders' summit is expected to take place in November, as an opportunity to restore direct diplomacy with North Korea, according to a US official.
However, it is not clear how a one-on-one meeting this year would accomplish what the previous three failed to do. Trump emerged from those three meetings — the last of which included a brief visit to North Korean territory — largely without any concrete results, while North Korea accelerated its nuclear weapons production.
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Trump, for the most part, downplayed the significance of North Korea's nuclear arsenal. He said the country possesses 57 nuclear weapons and suggested that responsibility for this situation falls on previous presidents.
"If I were president, I would not have allowed this," Trump said.
