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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their summit in Panmunjom, on the inter-Korean border, on June 30, 2019. (Kim Jung-hyo/Hankyoreh)

US President Donald Trump remains willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “without any preconditions,” a White House official said on Tuesday.

This appears to be a possible shift in Trump’s stance after his remarks last week about being open to dialogue aimed at achieving the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

The official made the remarks in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency about whether the Trump administration is open to talks with North Korea that do not specifically address the nuclear issue, as Kim recently indicated.

“US policy on North Korea has not changed. President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong-un without any preconditions,” the official. 

That marks a shift from last week, when the White House said that Trump “remains open to talking” with Kim “to “achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea.” 

There’s a good chance that this change in wording was meant to remove obstacles for resuming dialogue with Pyongyang while still maintaining the objective of the nuclearization of North Korea. 

A little over a week ago, on Sept. 21, Kim Jong-un suggested that he was willing to engage with the US if it dropped its demands for denuclearization. 

“If the United States, freeing itself from its absurd pursuit of other’s denuclearization and recognizing the reality, wants genuine peaceful coexistence with us, there is no reason for us not to come face to face with it,” Kim said. 

Recently, a senior official within the Lee Jae Myung administration in South Korea suggested that there is a possibility of a summit occurring between Trump and Kim during the former’s visit to Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled for late October in Gyeongju. 

Regarding the possibility of the resumption of talks between the US and North Korea, the official said, “While it’s difficult to offer any assurances right now, I think we cannot exclude such a possibility.”

“It may very well happen, and we will continue to monitor the situation while hoping that it does,” the official said. 

By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]