Trump seeks to hold a summit with Kim Jong Un, and the US Department of Justice expands its prosecution of an Iranian hacking network

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (Tuesday), citing American officials, that President Donald Trump is pressuring his aides to hold a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as soon as possible next fall, seeking to revive his aggressive diplomatic efforts that he began during his first term to persuade Kim to abandon his country's nuclear program.

The newspaper added that Trump discussed in private meetings the possibility of holding direct talks with Kim during his next trip to Asia, which may take place in November to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization meeting hosted by China.

There are still no official arrangements for the meeting, but the White House confirmed that the two presidents will meet at the appropriate time.

According to the newspaper, Trump's desire to hold another decisive meeting with Kim indicates that he is eagerly searching for a prominent achievement in foreign policy, in light of the continued difficulty of achieving victory in Iran. Most presidents have refused to meet Kim - who is estimated to possess dozens of nuclear warheads - without preconditions.

While Trump sees another bilateral meeting as an opportunity to reopen dialogue with North Korea, analysts and some American officials said they do not expect significant progress.

Seoul supports dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in the hope of enhancing stability in the region. But analysts and American officials pointed out that a bad agreement could ultimately harm relations with regional allies such as South Korea.

Former CIA official Bruce Klingner said: “He is appeasing another autocratic dictator based on the false perception that a personal relationship will actually succeed in achieving US foreign policy goals.”

Trump tried to meet with Kim during an Asian tour last year, and asked reporters aboard Air Force One to “publish” his desire to have a conversation with him. According to American officials, North Korea expressed its willingness to meet indirectly, but time constraints and the difficulty of arrangements prevented it from being held.

Trump later said that holding a summit with Kim at that time might have affected his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump and Kim held three summits during his first term, which began in Singapore in 2018, before negotiations collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 after Kim refused to agree to dismantle his entire nuclear program. Trump and Kim also held a meeting in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas in the same year, but it did not succeed in ending the stalemate.

Analysts believe that resuming negotiations will not be easy, as North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities have increased since the last meeting between the two leaders. Washington faces a greater challenge in any new negotiations, after North Korea strengthened its relations with China and Russia, developed its military cooperation with Iran, and sent thousands of soldiers to participate alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine, giving its forces additional combat experience.

Experts believe that Kim will enter any future negotiations from a stronger position, in light of his insistence on maintaining his nuclear arsenal and his endeavor to push the United States to deal with his country as a nuclear state. American intelligence estimates indicate that North Korea is continuing to expand its strategic programs, including missiles and nuclear warheads, while an American defense official warned that its nuclear forces have become more capable of targeting American territory, while its missiles can strike South Korea and Japan with nuclear or conventional warheads.

The US authorities have expanded the scope of their prosecution against an Iranian hacking network, bringing to 17 the number of Iranians charged in connection with a campaign that targeted universities, companies and government bodies inside and outside the United States. The Ministry of Justice revealed a new indictment targeting eight additional individuals, after it had brought charges against nine of the 17 defendants in 2018.

Prosecutors are offering a reward of $10 million for information leading to the location of five of them: Behzad Masri, Mojtaba Qalakohi, Arman Kahzadian, Keywan Fayyad, and Saber Shahbazi. According to the ministry, they are all linked to the “Mabna Institute,” an organization based in Iran that is accused of carrying out hacking operations on behalf of the Iranian government and the “Revolutionary Guard.”

The campaign, which was carried out mainly between 2013 and 2017, aimed to steal scientific data and intellectual property in particular. Now, the case includes electronic hacking operations that targeted 144 American universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 American companies, 11 foreign companies, five American government agencies, and two non-governmental organizations. It is believed that the hackers targeted more than 100,000 accounts belonging to university professors, according to the Ministry of Justice. They are also believed to have stolen approximately 31.5 terabytes of data, including scientific articles, university theses, and other research work.

“More than eight years after the original indictment was announced, these charges clearly confirm that the passage of time will not deter us from pursuing those who target the United States from abroad,” said Jimmy McDonald, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 2018, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against the nine individuals who were initially charged, in addition to a tenth suspect accused of involvement in an attempt to blackmail the HBO network by stealing the script for an unaired episode of the series “Game of Thrones.”