President Trump said Monday repeatedly praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and said he wanted to meet with him during a summit with South Korea's president at the White House. Why it matters: Longstanding U.

President Donald Trump on Monday said he wants to rekindle his friendship with the millennial dictator who has illegally assembled a nuclear arsenal while his own country remains starving and isolated under decades of economic sanctions.

Barely two months into office, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung faces a pivotal foreign policy test, heading into back-to-back summits in Tokyo and Washington that reflect the wider struggle of U.