'I'm 100% open to it': Donald Trump keen to meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un during upcoming Asia tour
The US President told reporters to 'put out the word' that he's eager for talks
Donald Trump has said he would be "100 percent open" to meeting Kim Jong Un during his upcoming trip to Asia.
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The US president said he gets on "very well" with the North Korean dictator and told reporters aboard Air Force One to "put out the word" that he is keen to meet.
When asked whether he would agree to North Korea’s demand to be recognised as a nuclear state as a precondition for opening talks, Mr Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power.
“When you say they have to be recognised as a nuclear power, well, they got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”
The pair met three times during Mr Trump’s first presidential term, with the last meeting taking place in 2019.
They have not met since Mr Trump was re-elected – but could reunite during the US leader’s upcoming five-day trip to the continent.
Read more: Trump hopes to meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un again as soon as 'this year'
However, nothing is scheduled in with Kim, with Mr Trump instead set to meet leaders from, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia.
He is also set to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping while in the region imposing severe tariffs on the economic powerhouse earlier this year.
Mr Trump says he had a “great relationship” the with Kim – the Supreme Leader of the secretive totalitarian state which has intimidated its neighbours with nuclear tests.
Meanwhile, Kim said in a speech last month “I still have a good memory of President Trump,"saying he is open to meeting him if the US drops its “absurd" demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
But the pair did not exactly get off on the right foot, with Mr Trump calling his North Korean counterpart "little rocket man" as tensions soared.
They held crunch talks during a period of heightened tensions as the US after a series of nuclear tests sparked fears over the hermit state’s nuclear arsenal.
Mr Trump’s administration slapped sanctions on the regime to pressure it to abandon its nuclear programme, which it never did.
North Korea has since carried out multiple tests on intercontinental missiles, according to neighbouring states.