South Korean Unification Minister Chung Young-won said on Friday that there is a strong possibility of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week.

The South Korean official added that North Korea is paying close attention to the United States, and that there is a strong possibility of a meeting. He expected the meeting to take place on the sidelines of the US president's scheduled visit to South Korea on Wednesday to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

US media reported that Trump administration officials privately discussed arranging a meeting between him and Kim. Their last meeting occurred during Trump's first term in 2019.

Their previous meetings took place in June 2018 in Singapore, in February 2019 in Vietnam, and in June of the same year on the inter-Korean border.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has demanded that the United States abandon its commitment to preventing his country from possessing a nuclear bomb.