(LEAD) Trump-Asia trip

(ATTN: ADDS more details, background in paras 5-8)

By Chang Dong-woo

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China next week, while there are no plans for him to engage with North Korea during his upcoming Asia trip, foreign media reports said Friday.

Trump will meet Xi and Putin on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, Bloomberg reported, citing a White House spokeswoman.

The planned meeting comes as Trump seeks a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, while Washington and Beijing continue to navigate differences over trade, tariffs and other geopolitical issues.

Separately, Reuters reported that a U.S. official said there were no plans for Trump to engage with North Korea during his trip to Asia next week, amid speculation over the possibility of renewed diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in engaging with Kim again, citing their "good" personal relationship, fueling speculation about a possible meeting during the president's planned visit to China this month.

The two leaders had three in-person meetings during Trump's first term: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.

A South Korean presidential official suggested Thursday that the chances of a summit between Trump and Kim were slim.

"It would be difficult to say there is zero possibility of talks (between North Korea and the United States), but I think the probability might not be high," the official said when asked about the possibility of North Korea attending multilateral diplomatic events or holding talks with Washington.

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