Donald Trump has told his South Korean counterpart that he hopes to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as soon as this year.
The US president hosted South Korea's Lee Jae-myung at the White House on Monday, local time, for talks on issues including trade and Indo-Pacific security.
Mr Lee also asked for Mr Trump's help to maintain peace between South Korea and the nuclear-armed North.
"The only remaining divided nation in the world is the Korean peninsula, and I would like to ask for your role in establishing peace on the Korean peninsula," Mr Lee said through an interpreter.
"So I look forward to your meeting with Kim Jong Un," he said, and suggested Mr Trump could build a Trump Tower in North Korea and play golf with the North Korean leader.
Mr Trump responded by saying he still had a "very good relationship" with Mr Kim, whom he met three times during his first term as president.
"He'd like to meet with me," Mr Trump said of Mr Kim.
"We look forward to meeting with him, and we'll make relations better."
Asked if a meeting could happen this year, Mr Trump said: "Well, I'm meeting a lot of people. I mean, it's hard to say that, but I'd like to meet him this year."
The South Korean leader has been trying to improve relations with the North since winning a snap election in June.
Trump dismisses 'misunderstanding' after critical social post
A few hours before the meeting, Mr Trump used social media to question whether a "purge or revolution" was taking place in South Korea, and suggested the US could not do business there.
The post appeared to refer to a Korean investigation into the actions of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, and a related police search at a church.
It led some in Washington to wonder if another Oval Office confrontation was set to take place, following clashes with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa this year.
But, after Mr Lee repeatedly complimented Mr Trump for his leadership, peacemaking efforts and Oval Office redecorating, Mr Trump downplayed his post.
"I am sure it's a misunderstanding," he said. "But, you know, there is a rumour going around about churches, raiding churches, so we'll talk."
After the meeting, Mr Trump praised Mr Lee as a "very good representative for South Korea", and said he believed they had reached an agreement on trade.
"I think we have a deal done," he said.
"They had some problems with it, but we stuck to our guns. They're going to make the deal that they agreed to make."
Last month, Mr Trump said a 15 per cent tariff would be placed on imports from South Korea — rather than a threatened 25 per cent tariff — under an agreement that promised Korean investment in US projects.
That includes a $US150 million ($231 million) investment in America's shipbuilding sector, though public details are vague.
The US has consistently failed to meet its shipbuilding targets in recent years, raising questions about its ability to deliver on the AUKUS agreement and provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.
