By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday posted a photo of him meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in 2019 on social media, repeating his claim that he and Kim "get along great."

The posting came as the White House has repeatedly said that Trump remains open to dialogue with Kim "without any preconditions" although it remains uncertain whether Pyongyang will come forward for talks amid deepening economic, diplomatic and military cooperation with Moscow.

"Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we're smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!" the president wrote on Truth Social.

Trump had three in-person meetings with Kim during his first term: the first meeting in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and then the Panmunjom meeting in June 2019.

The third meeting drew international attention as Trump briefly set foot on North Korean soil after crossing the Military Demarcation Line with Kim -- the first time a sitting U.S. president had done so.

In June, Trump also posted on Truth Social a photo of the leaders' first meeting in Singapore in 2018, reinforcing speculation that he might seek to rekindle his personal diplomacy with Kim.

In an analysis on Thursday, Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that Kim could seek renewed summitry with Trump, potentially after the U.S. midterm elections this fall, if Pyongyang adopts a "revisionist" approach to help cement its status as a nuclear-armed state.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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