Donald Trump is presenting diplomacy with Kim Jong Un as an emerging possibility, but North Korea’s public response suggests that the two sides remain far apart—and may not even agree on whether meaningful contact is taking place.

Trump has said he expects to meet Kim later this year, potentially during a November Asia trip, while supporters frame the prospect as a revival of his personal diplomacy. That optimism comes alongside concerns in Seoul about the durability of the U.S.-South Korea alliance and Washington’s decision to scale back its participation in joint military exercises.¹

Trump has also claimed that he and Kim are communicating privately. Asked whether Kim had responded to a request for a conversation, Trump said, “Yeah, he has.” He later added: “Yeah, I will be,” when asked whether he planned to meet the North Korean leader, and declared, “I know Kim Jong-un very well and he’s gonna be fine.”²

Pyongyang, however, offered a sharply different interpretation. Kim Yo-jong, Kim’s sister and a senior official, said she knew “absolutely nothing” about the alleged communications. While acknowledging that Trump and Kim had “personally good memories and feelings” toward each other, she insisted that the United States remained an enemy and that its policy had not shifted.

“The United States’ hostile policy toward the DPRK has not changed,” she said, accusing Washington and its allies of continuing “hostile military activities against the DPRK even at this very moment.”²

The contrast is consequential. Trump is treating personal rapport as evidence that negotiations can be restarted; North Korea is separating that rapport from policy, sanctions and military pressure. Until those underlying disputes change, a summit may be politically useful as a signal—but it is not yet evidence of a diplomatic breakthrough.