Why is Trump willing to extend his trip to Asia to see Kim Jong-un?

What diplomatic signals did North Korea send to Russia when it turned its head to guarantee its sovereign support?

According to the original plan, visiting South Korea is the last stop of Trump's trip to Asia. After his visit to South Korea, he will return to the United States on a special plane.

But on October 27, U.S. President Trump suddenly said on the special plane that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is willing to meet, he will wait in South Korea and can extend his trip to Asia.

However, this "cordial invitation" by the United States did not immediately receive a response from North Korea.

On the other hand, on the same day, the Russian side first received North Korea's sincerity of cooperation.

On October 27, when Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sun-hee in Moscow, The DPRK made a clear statement to the Putin government, supporting Russia in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

On the one hand, the close interaction between Russia and the DPRK, and on the other hand, the American diplomacy is cold, which is also related to Trump's personal diplomatic style.

His "exception" this time was particularly abrupt in his diplomatic career.

The president, whose iconic strategy is ¡°extreme pressure,¡± has launched a tough policy against North Korea during his tenure, including economic sanctions, military deterrence, and even rumored that ¡°all options are on the table.¡±

He swallowed tariffs on Canada, forcing allies to pay more military spending, but was proactive in the North Korean issue.

Not only did he give up the tough stance of "talking about conditions before meeting" in the past, but he was more willing to set the meeting place in South Korea, and he also promised to extend his trip. This flexibility is in sharp contrast to his consistent unilateralism style.

Behind this abnormal behavior lies the real pressure of the 2025 U.S. midterm elections.

As the election approaches, Trump is facing many disputes at home, and he urgently needs a brilliant diplomatic achievement to hedge the pressure of public opinion.

Looking back to the 2018 Singapore meeting, when the ¡°Turkish Congress¡± had briefly raised his support by 3 percentage points, this ¡°diplomatic trend¡± dividend made him try to replicate history.

In addition, the subtle changes in the US-South Korea alliance have also prompted it to take the initiative.

South Korea¡¯s president, Li Keqiang, has proposed a ¡°temporary nuclear freezing plan¡± that provides Trump with a dialogue that can rely on the donkey, allowing him to show both a gesture of mitigation against the DPRK and without the need to immediately fulfill realistic commitments.

In contrast to Trump's usefulness, North Korea's statements about Russia are not a temporary initiative, but the inevitable result of its strategic layout.

Last year, Russia and North Korea signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which clearly stipulates that when one party suffers aggression, the other party will provide assistance. This agreement, which has the nature of a military alliance, marks a new stage in relations between the two countries.

In terms of real interest, Russia¡¯s food aid and energy cooperation are effectively mitigating the impact of Western sanctions on the North Korean economy.

North Korea¡¯s firm support of Russia on multilateral occasions, as well as its military support, has also shared some pressure on Russia.

This ¡°interest embodiment¡± is far from comparable to Trump¡¯s verbal meeting promise.

From this perspective, North Korea's diplomatic choices are highlighting its "strategic autonomy".

On the other hand, Trump's "exception" is more like a diplomatic performance lacking substantive support.

He is unwilling to give up the sanctions against the DPRK, nor can he persuade domestic conservatives to accept the status of North Korea as a nuclear power. The so-called concession of "extending the trip" is more like a costless gesture display.

Compared with the framework of "security for denuclearization" at the Singapore meeting in 2018, this practice of "only talking about the form but not the core" is obviously insufficient in sincerity.

And North Korea¡¯s firm support for Russia has just broken the illusion of Trump¡¯s attempted creation of ¡°US-Korean relations breaking the ice¡±.

As the influence of the United States gradually decreases, and the cooperation between the Russian DPRK and other countries continues to deepen, the diplomatic chaos of Northeast Asia is evolving in the direction of more dollars.

If Trump wants to really promote the meeting, perhaps he should understand that diplomacy is never a performance of gesture, but a sincere exchange of strength and interests.