WASHINGTON (TNND) \u2014 Images of President Donald Trump meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un back in 2018 and 2019 were for some shocking displays of affection and respect.<\/p>\n
The president confirmed Wednesday he’s planning for a repeat performance.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journalreported<\/a> Trump is pushing for another meeting this year, possibly in November, when world leaders will gather for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China.<\/p>\n Trump told reporters<\/a> Wednesday, “He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should\u2019ve never allowed it to happen in. I know Kim Jong Un very well and he\u2019s gonna be fine as long as we have a smart president; he\u2019s gonna be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he\u2019s probably not gonna be so fine.<\/p>\n When asked by a reporter if he expected to meet Kim later this year, Trump responded, “Yeah, I will be.”<\/p>\n But experts assert the meetings the last time around had the opposite effect of Trump’s stated goal, to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program<\/p>\n “North Korea has done nothing but increase the size of its arsenal and range of its missiles,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a Professor at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU.<\/p>\n In an interview with The National News Desk on Wednesday, Dr. Jong Eun Lee, an Assistant Professor <\/a>of Political Science at North Greenville University, said if anything, Kim Jong Un has far more leverage today.<\/p>\n “It’s much more difficult place because North Korea has something it didn’t have eight years ago, which is strategic partnership with China and Russia. It seems as if North Korea’s calculation has been that ultimately Trump, or the U.S. government is not reliable. They promise much, but the promises are not sustainable. In that case, it seems ever since then, those Korea has been looking to see whether China and Russia can offer much more reliable long term guarantees for cloning. And so far, they seem to be getting that,” he said.<\/p>\n Also this week, there was a break in tradition in U.S. relations with another Asian country – South Korea. <\/p>\n