South Korea Says US-North Korea Summit Possible Anytime

A summit between the United States and North Korea is possible "at any time," South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Tuesday, citing signs of dialogue between the two sides, though no specific contacts have been confirmed. The assessment, delivered during a closed-door parliamentary briefing, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has recently expressed his intention to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. Lawmaker Youn Kunyoung of the ruling Democratic Party shared the intelligence agency's analysis with reporters after the session. "As for a potential North Korea-U.S. summit, the analysis suggests that such a meeting should be considered possible at any time," Youn said, quoting the NIS. He added that while there is no confirmed evidence of direct communication, "there are signs of dialogue." The diplomatic signals follow Trump's decision last month to order a significant scaling back of the annual U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, which he criticized as costly and sending an "inappropriate and hostile" signal to Pyongyang. Trump stated at the time that he expected to meet with Kim this year.