Trump Posts Photo of Kim Jong Un Without Comment... Why He Brought It Up After 8 Years

Posted Photo from First North Korea–U.S. Summit Eight Years Ago Without Comment
Uploaded Shortly After Announcing Upcoming Iran War-Ending and Denuclearization Agreement

U.S. President Donald Trump posted a photo from the first North Korea-U.S. summit, which was held in Singapore eight years ago, on his social media (SNS).

Photo of the first North Korea-U.S. summit posted by President Trump on his social media. Screenshot from Truth Social

On June 13 (local time), President Trump uploaded a photo to his social networking service, Truth Social, showing himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walking side by side, without any accompanying caption or additional remarks.

The photo, taken during the first Trump administration on June 12, 2018, at the first North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore, shows President Trump and Kim Jong Un walking together through the garden of the Capella Hotel, where the summit was held.

At the time, President Trump and Kim Jong Un agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a peace regime. However, at the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019, discussions on detailed implementation plans ended in a "no deal." Following Trump's failure to win re-election in 2020, the initial summit agreement effectively collapsed. Afterward, North Korea chose to strengthen its nuclear capabilities.

Against this backdrop, attention is focused on why President Trump posted the photo just after the 8th anniversary of the first summit. Some interpret this as an indication that President Trump regards the first North Korea-U.S. summit as a fond memory. In addition, about an hour before posting the photo, President Trump uploaded another post stating, "An agreement on ending the war and denuclearization with Iran is scheduled to be signed on the 14th," and, "This agreement will serve as a barrier against nuclear weapons." This has led to analysis that President Trump is signaling his interest in resuming summit diplomacy with Kim Jong Un.

Even after returning to power, he has continued to make friendly remarks about Kim Jong Un. In an interview with Fox News, when asked if he would reach out to Kim Jong Un again, he answered, "I will." He also called Kim Jong Un a "smart guy," adding, "We got along well." Furthermore, after last month's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump released a fact sheet confirming their shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea.

Previously, on April 13, when President Trump met with Prime Minister Kim Minseok at the White House, Kim revealed that Trump had said, regarding the possibility of meeting Kim Jong Un during his mid-May visit to China, "Meeting him would be great. It could happen during this visit to China, but it might not, or it could happen sometime after."

However, while there had been speculation about a possible "surprise meeting" with Kim Jong Un during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju last October and at last month's U.S.-China summit in Beijing, these meetings ultimately did not materialize. Currently, North Korea is rejecting the denuclearization agenda and is effectively demanding recognition as a nuclear-armed state as a precondition for dialogue with the United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.