Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha speaks during a parliamentary audit at the Korean mission to the United Nations in New York on Oct. 17, 2025. [YONHAP]

Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha speaks during a parliamentary audit at the Korean mission to the United Nations in New York on Oct. 17, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
There is currently no sign that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold a meeting during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to take place in Korea at the end of this month.
 
Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha made the remarks during a parliamentary audit at the Korean mission to the United Nations in New York, amid lingering speculation that Trump could seek re-engagement with Kim when he visits Korea for the APEC gathering slated to take place in the southeastern city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.
 
“President Trump has said he is open to dialogue, and North Korea has also shown an indication [leaning toward dialogue]. But there is no sign yet that something will materialize on the occasion of the APEC [summit],” Kang said during the audit session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
 
“But we are trying to follow up on [related] developments while leaving open that possibility [of the Trump-Kim meeting],” she added.
 
Last month, the White House said that Trump remains open to talking to Kim “without any preconditions” — a comment that reinforced speculation that Trump could try to resume his personal diplomacy with Kim during his upcoming visit to Korea.
 
Kim has also expressed openness to resuming talks with the United States if Washington drops its demand for the North’s denuclearization.
 
During his first term, Trump’s personal diplomacy with the North Korean leader led to three in-person meetings between them — in Singapore in June 2018, in Hanoi in February 2019 and at Panmunjom, the truce village on the inter-Korean border, in June 2019. Trump had praised Kim as an “honorable” person without further elaboration. 
 
Asked if Kim wants to get U.S. recognition of its nuclear arms should he agree to meet Trump, the ambassador refused to make any prejudgment.
 
“As for the United States, it has repeatedly expressed its position to resume dialogue without conditions,” she said.
 
Commenting on the possibility of a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Trump during the APEC gathering, Kang said, “I understand that final-stage coordination is taking place to ensure that the summit can take place.”
 
At the start of the audit, Kang reiterated Seoul’s commitment to reducing tensions and promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue with North Korea, vowing to reinforce cooperation with Washington in the efforts.
 
Her remarks came as Seoul hopes to resume inter-Korean engagement despite Pyongyang’s rejection of dialogue and its continued push to advance nuclear and missile programs.
 
“While actively pushing to address Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue with North Korea, [we] will also make parallel efforts to elicit Pyongyang’s earnest response,” Kang said.
 
She added, “[We] will also strengthen consultations and cooperation between Korea and the United States regarding our North Korea policy push to reduce tensions and establish peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
 
Touching on the Aug. 25 summit between Lee and Trump, Kang noted that the two leaders have established trust and a bond between them, and that the two sides have confirmed their strong commitment for cooperation “at the highest level.”
 
Kang, a former foreign minister, accompanied Lee during the summit at the White House, although she was not officially appointed to the ambassadorial post at the time.
 
“[We] will push to achieve visible outcomes in various sectors, including diplomacy, security and defense, as well as shipbuilding, atomic energy and cutting edge technologies,” she said.
 
She shared plans to push for high-level exchanges between Seoul and Washington during various upcoming multilateral forums, including the East Asia Summit in Malaysia this month, the APEC summit in Korea and the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa next month.
 
In addition, the ambassador said that her embassy will support ongoing trade talks to hash out details of a trade deal struck in July between Seoul and Washington.
 
“We will pre-emptively respond and manage key economic and trade issues that the U.S. side has raised,” she said.
 
The two countries have been in intense negotiations to iron out details of the July deal, including how to fund Korea’s $350 billion investment commitment.
 
During the audit, Kang said that her presentation of credentials to Trump, initially set for Friday, has been delayed, though a copy of them has been submitted to the U.S. government.
 
She made the remarks in response to a question about whether she will accompany Trump during his planned visit to Korea for the APEC summit.
 
“Before the presentation of credentials, I am not a full ambassador. So it’s uncertain [whether I am able to accompany Trump],” she said. 
 
“An ambassador of the host nation accompanying a [foreign] leader is a great [show] of courtesy in terms of protocol. So as an ambassador, I also want to make that point clear,” she added.

BY JIN MIN-JI, YONHAP [[email protected]]