WASHINGTON/SEOUL >> President Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year and was open to further trade talks with South Korea even as he lobbed new criticisms at the visiting Asian ally.

“I’d like to meet him this year,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he welcomed South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, to the White House for the first time. “I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”

Despite clinching a trade deal in July that spared South Korean exports harsher U.S. tariffs, the two sides continue to wrangle over nuclear energy, military spending, and details of a deal that included $350 billion in promised South Korean investments in the United States.

After meeting with Trump, Lee attended a busi

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