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APEC 2025: The Implications of A President Trump & Kim Jong Un Meeting 

Stephanie Bulega-Nasuna 

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum presents the opportunity for improved U.S.-North Korea relations but not without several challenges. APEC serves as a platform for the United States to advance economic policies, and for its Indo-Pacific partners to showcase opportunities for economic cooperation. Ahead of this year’s APEC summit – hosted in Gyeongju, South Korea – there is growing speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump could meet with Kim Jong Un. 

Last month, Kim Jong Un expressed interest in meeting with Trump, symbolizing a shift in North Korea’s previous stance on dialogue. President Donald Trump attempted to send a letter to Kim Jong Un through North Korean diplomats stationed at the United Nations in service of restarting dialogue, but these efforts were rejected.  Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister and the senior-most official at North Korea’s  propaganda ministry, confirmed that no matter what proposals or policy Seoul creates there would be no dialogue. Her statement came after President Lee Jae Myung removed the anti-North Korea propaganda loudspeakers near the border and stopped civil groups from sending anti-North Korea pamphlets into North Korea. President Lee’s intention was to improve inter-Korea relations, but such moves did not remedy relations between the two. 

However, in a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly in late September, Kim Jong Un stated , “If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States.” For the United States, the main objective of U.S.-North Korea dialogue is to denuclearize North Korea, and to assure South Korea. 

At this rate, if there is a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Trump, South Korea could be left out of discussions. Currently, North Korea does not want to improve inter-Korea relations. Moreover, these statements show North Korea is looking for legitimacy on the world stage through the United States, not South Korea. Kim Jong Un’s preference for bi-lateral versus multilateral engagements with the United States signals the desire to be recognized as a nuclear state and to keep its nuclear arms for the survival of the regime. However, the de-nuclearization of North Korea has always been the objective of the United States. If a meeting was to be held President Trump has to consider what he is willing to concede for a cooperative North Korea.  

Currently, prospects for a U.S.-North Korea meeting are low due to competing priorities. While in Gyeongju for just two days, Trump is expected to meet South Korean President Lee as well as Chinese leader Xi Jinping to sort out the United States’ tumultuous trade relationships with South Korea and China respectively. These negotiations are likely to take precedence over a North Korea meeting, especially one without a high likelihood for producing concrete deliverables.  By adding a North Korea meeting, President Trump could be stretched too thin. 

South Korean Businessmen Meet With Trump at Mar-a-Lago 

Sophia Shum Gagnier 

This weekend, South Korea’s titans of industry met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in an organized push to strengthen U.S.-South Korea economic ties while ameliorating bilateral trade frictions. Top executives from Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG and Hanwha attended a private event at Trump’s golf club on October 18 and are reported to have met with the president after the event to discuss investment opportunities. The meetings take place amid stalled negotiations between Washington and Seoul on a new trade in, though reports say that tariffs were not a specific topic of conversation between the businessmen and President Trump.

The business leaders attended at the invitation of Masayoshi Son, chairman of Softbank Group and well-known Trump whisperer. Softbank’s “Stargate” project, announced in January of this year, plans to invest $500 billion in AI across the United States in partnership with OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. As of October, both Samsung and SK have entered into partnerships with the project to supply memory chips to the project. Regardless of Son’s intention, the event is noted as having been an important opportunity for South Korean industry representatives to discuss key issues of concern that have yet to be resolved in intergovernmental meetings.

In conversation with South Korean attendees, Trump reportedly expressed gratitude for past and future South Korean investments in U.S. projects and encouraged greater investment in the U.S. shipbuilding sector. Trump’s interest in shipbuilding has been a key issue in U.S.-South Korea talks, aligning with the “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” executive order’s directive to rebuild ship manufacturing capacity. South Korea has been discussed as a key partner in this mission, and new partnerships in this sector could help arrange a much needed end to the deadlocked trade deal negotiations.

This Week in Korean History

On October 25, 1900 Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire designated a set of islets located between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago as Korean territory. These islets, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, remain a key point of contention in the South Korea-Japan relationship, with both sides continually affirming their respective claims to the rocky outcroppings. In South Korea, the date of Emperor Gojong’s declaration is commemorated as “Dokdo Day” and often features South Korean citizens attempting the tumultuous journey to the islets.