How does Joe Biden solve a problem like North Korea?

Former president Donald Trump had quite a diplomatic relationship with Kim Jong-un.

“He’s got a great personality. He’s a funny guy. He’s very smart. He’s a great negotiator. He loves his people,” Trump said of the North Korean leader in 2018 – having previously called Kim “rocket man” and threatened “fire and fury” in response to threats from Pyongyang in 2017. Two meetings in person in 2018 (after which Trump gave the quote above) and 2019 were touted by the 45th president as a great diplomatic success.

The difference between Trump and the current White House incumbent, Joe Biden, over North Korea has been clear during Biden’s first trip to Asia as president. Before leaving Seoul, South Korea for Japan on Sunday, Biden had one simple message for his North Korean counterpart: “Hello... period.” Biden’s trip has mostly been about economic matters and countering the influence of China, but the recent actions of Pyongyang have lingered in the background. North Korea has conducted a number of weapons tests since the start of the year, and the US has been monitoring for a potential underground nuclear test, which would be the first since 2017.

Four years ago, Trump and Kim signed an agreement on new peaceful relations, and called for a “firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”. Trump said of Kim at the time: “I think he wants to get it done. I really feel that very strongly.” Negotiations have been stalled since 2019, though, and Kim has shown little intent to talk recently. But Biden is playing it cool.

The president said he was “not concerned” about the possibility of North Korean nuclear tests, adding that the US is “prepared for anything North Korea does”. Biden is clearly not taking the same route as Trump, who was all show – calling correspondence from Kim “love letters” – and little substance. However, Biden’s low-key handling of the issue has also produced little in terms of results.

Offers of Covid-19 vaccines from Washington – with North Korean state media saying that 2.5 million people have been sickened so far by “fever” in the country in its first acknowledged outbreak – have been met with no answer. But Biden said on Saturday that he would be willing to sit down with Kim if he thought it would lead to a serious breakthrough.

Pyongyang has maintained a similar position to the one it held during the final years of the Trump presidency, saying that offers of help from the US are taken as insincere as long as “hostile policies”, such as military drills and sanctions, are still being implemented.

People have often asked how Trump would try to solve a problem like North Korea; now Biden faces the same task. The answer so far appears to be to try to do so without the issue taking centre stage.