Trump weighs direct talks with N. Korea's Kim

His transition team hopes that a new diplomatic push can lower the risks of an armed conflict

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WASHINGTON - US President-elect Donald Trump's team is discussing pursuing direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping a fresh diplomatic push can lower the risks of armed conflict, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Several in Trump's team now see a direct approach from the President-elect, to build on a relationship that already exists, as most likely to break the ice with Mr. Kim, years after the two traded insults and what Trump called "beautiful" letters in an unprecedented diplomatic effort during his first term in office, the duo said.

The policy discussions are fluid and no final decisions have been made by Trump, the sources said.

The President-elect's transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

What reciprocation Mr. Kim will offer Trump is unclear.

The North Koreans ignored four years of outreach by US President Joe Biden to start talks with no preconditions, and Mr. Kim is emboldened by an expanded missile arsenal and a much closer relationship with Russia.

"We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States," Mr. Kim said last week in a speech at a Pyongyang military exhibition, according to state media.

During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump held three meetings with Mr. Kim, in Singapore, Hanoi and at the Korean border, the first time a sitting US president had set foot in the country.

Their diplomacy yielded no concrete results, even as Trump described their talks as falling "in love."