![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom near the inter-Korean border on July 1, 2019. [RODONG SINMUN]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1020-Trump.jpg)
Trips to the truce village of Panmunjom will be suspended next week, officials said on October 20, amid speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump may hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his scheduled to trip for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
“From late October to early November, there will be no Unification Ministry-operated special field trips to Panmunjom,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said during a press briefing.
The ministry has been operating a scaled-down trip program to the truce village, which houses inter-Korean conference buildings and a section of the border only for “policy customers” since field trips were suspended in mid-2023 following a U.S. soldier’s unauthorized crossing into North Korea via the village.
The upcoming suspension comes amid growing speculation that Trump could meet with Kim, possibly at Panmunjom, during his visit to South Korea for the APEC summit scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.
CNN reported over the weekend that Trump administration officials have privately discussed arranging a meeting between the two leaders, though there have been no communications between Washington and Pyongyang.
During the APEC period, the United Nations Command (UNC), which oversees the southern side of Panmunjom, will reportedly not operate its trip program to the truce village for foreign visitors.
Government sources said the suspension of the Unification Ministry’s trip program comes at the request of the UNC. They described the suspension as one of the “signs” of preparations for a potential U.S.-North Korea meeting.
Trump and Kim last met in June 2019 at Panmunjom during the U.S. president’s first term, following their two summits in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019.
Observers suggested that the suspension may be intended more to deter any potential provocations by North Korea during the global summit than to prepare for a Trump-Kim meeting.
Yonhap
