By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The last time U.S. President Donald Trump visited South Korea in 2019, he made a surprise trip to the border with North Korea for an impromptu meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to revive faltering nuclear talks.

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Now, as Trump is set to make his first trip to Asia since his return to office, speculation is rife that he may seek to meet Kim again during his stop in South Korea. If realized, it would mark the two’s first summit since their last meeting at the Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019, and fourth overall.

Many experts say prospects for another impromptu meeting aren’t bright this time but predict Trump and Kim could eventually sit down for talks again in coming months. Others dispute that, saying a quick resumption of diplomacy isn’t still likely given how much has changed since 2019 — both the size of North Korea’s nuclear program and its foreign policy leverage.

Talks of fresh diplomacy

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to restore diplomacy with Kim as he boasted of his relationship with the North Korean leader and called him “a smart guy.” Ending his silence on Trump’s outreach, Kim last month said he held “good personal memories” of Trump and suggested he could return to talks if the U.S. drops “its delusional obsession with denuclearization” of North Korea.

Both Washington and Pyongyang haven’t hinted at any high-profile meeting ahead of the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea. But South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told lawmakers in mid-October that it was possible for Trump and Kim to meet at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone again when the U.S. president comes to South Korea after visiting Malaysia and Japan.

“We should see prospects for their meeting have increased,” said Ban Kil Joo, assistant professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul. He cited the recent suspension of civilian tours to the southern side of Panmunjom and Kim’s comments about a possible return to talks.

If the meeting doesn’t occur, Ban said Kim will likely determine whether to resume diplomacy with Trump when he holds a major ruling party conference expected in January.

No notable logistical preparations that imply an impending Kim-Trump meeting have been reported, but observers note that the 2019 get-together was arranged only a day after Trump issued an unorthodox meeting invitation by tweet.

Kim’s greater leverage

Since his earlier diplomacy with Trump fell apart due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea, Kim has accelerated the expansion of an arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the U.S. and its allies. He has also strengthened his diplomatic footprint by aligning with Russia over its war in Ukraine and tightening relations with China.

Subsequently, Kim’s sense of urgency for talks with the United States could be much weaker now than it was six years ago, though some experts argue Kim would need to brace for the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Considering the current situation, it seems difficult to imagine Kim Jong Un coming over for talks,” said Kim Tae-hyung, a professor at Seoul’s Soongsil University.

With an enlarged nuclear arsenal, stronger diplomatic backing from Russia and China and the weakening enforcement of sanctions, Kim has greater leverage and clearly wants the U.S. to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear power, a status needed to call for the lifting of U.N. sanctions. But that would run counter to the U.S. and its allies’ long-held position that sanctions would stay in place unless North Korea fully abandons its nuclear program.

“If a meeting with Kim Jong Un happens, Trump would brag of it and boast he’s the one who can resolve Korean Peninsula issues as well, so he has something to gain … But would the U.S. have something substantial to give Kim Jong Un in return?” said Chung Jin-young, a former dean of the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies at South Korea’s Kyung Hee University.

Koh Yu-hwan, a former president of South Korea’s Institute of National Unification, said that any meeting between Trump and Kim around the APEC meeting is unlikely to produce meaningful results. To get Kim back to talks, Koh said Trump would have to bring something enticing him to the table this time around.

North Korea’s evolving threats

Even if they don’t meet this month, there are still chances for Trump and Kim to resume diplomacy later. Kim may see Trump as a rare U.S. leader willing to grant concessions like the nuclear state status, while Trump would think a meeting with Kim would give him a diplomatic achievement in the face of various domestic woes.

There are both hopes and worries about potential dialogue between Trump and Kim.

Some call for the role of diplomacy to ease the danger of North Korea’s enlarged nuclear arsenal. But others caution against Trump settling for rewarding North Korea with an extensive relaxing of sanctions in return for limited steps like freezing its unfinished long-range missile program targeting the U.S. Such deals would leave North Korea with already-built, short-range nuclear missiles targeting South Korea.

Kim Taewoo, another former head of the Institute of National Unification, said “such a small deal” would still benefit South Korea’s security because decades-long efforts to achieve a complete denuclearization of North Korea have made little progress.

“If North Korea possesses an ability to strike the U.S., can the U.S. freely exercise its extended deterrence pledge in the event that North Korea attacks South Korea?” Kim Taewoo said, referring to a U.S. promise to mobilize all military capabilities to protect South Korea. The country has no nuclear weapons of its own and is under the so-called U.S. “nuclear umbrella” protection.

Chung, the former university dean, said there are virtually no chances for North Korea to give up its nuclear program. But he said that giving North Korea sanctions relief in return for partial denuclearization steps would trigger calls in South Korea and Japan for their countries to also be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown likely means there won’t be an inflation report next month for the first time in more than seven decades, the White House said Friday, leaving Wall Street and the Federal Reserve without crucial information about consumer prices.

“Because surveyors cannot deploy to the field, the White House has learned there will likely NOT be an inflation release next month for the first time in history,” the Trump administration said in an email.

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Some of the inflation data is collected electronically, but most is gathered in person by government employees who visit stores across the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which prepares the inflation report, has already reduced the data collected each month because the Trump administration’s hiring freeze left some cities without surveyors.

The announcement follows Friday’s release of September inflation data, which showed prices ticked higher but remained lower than many economists had expected. That report, which was delayed by nine days from its originally-scheduled release, was based on data that was collected before the shutdown began Oct. 1.

In past shutdowns the consumer price index — the government’s principal inflation measure — was compiled based on partial data. But it may be too late to gather even that level of information, the Labor Department said.

“Proposals 2 through 5 are common-sense, targeted reforms that will help us build the smaller, more affordable housing New Yorkers need—across every borough.”

A poll site in The Bronx during the primaries in June. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

As I travel across the city and talk to New Yorkers in every borough, I hear over and over again the anguished stories of families who can’t afford the rent. Parents who fear their children will never be able to live in the neighborhood they grew up in. Lifelong residents wondering if New York is pushing them out.

We are in the midst of the worst housing affordability crisis in our city’s history. And unless we act boldly, the future is grim: the city that never sleeps risks becoming the city where no one can afford a place to rest their head.

For low-income families, the stakes are heartbreaking. Sky-high rents are driving our homelessness crisis. Families are in shelters today because they can’t afford a home. And it’s not just impacting low-income households. Nurses, teachers, bus drivers and middle class New Yorkers are getting priced out of the boroughs where they live, work and raise a family. 

There’s no skirting the truth: we need more housing. And we need it now. On Nov. 4, New Yorkers will have a chance to approve four ballot measures that will strengthen our ability to build more, faster and better homes in our city. New Yorkers can’t afford to say no if we are to meet this crisis head-on. That’s why I’ll be voting yes on ballot proposals 2 through 5.

Right now, we are seeing a citywide vacancy rate of just 1.4 percent. That means just over one in every 100 apartments in our city is available to rent. That’s a disaster for affordability and is pushing New Yorkers out of their homes. 

Meanwhile, cities across the country—and the world—are showing that it can be done right. Jersey City built 13 new homes for every 1,000 residents in 2024. New York City? Just four. Any self respecting New Yorker can agree New Jersey shouldn’t beat us at anything.

We’re also falling behind cities like Denver, Austin, Washington D.C., Houston, and Boston, all of which are leaving us in the dust. We can and must do better. We have no choice.

Proposals 2 through 5 are common-sense, targeted reforms that will help us build the smaller, more affordable housing New Yorkers need—across every borough.

Proposal 2 speeds up approvals for deeply affordable housing. It puts 100 percent affordable projects—and those with at least 25 percent affordability in the 12 community districts that have built the least housing in the past five years—on a faster track: a 90-day clock instead of the current 240-day process. Community Board input is fully preserved, but unnecessary delays are not.

Proposal 3 unlocks low-rise, local-scale housing, like a few apartments above a bodega or laundromat. It makes it easier to add modest, well-integrated buildings in low- and medium-density neighborhoods, and to build smarter in areas already zoned for higher density. It’s about gentle growth, not giant towers.

Proposal 4 creates a new “housing appeals board” made up of elected officials (the mayor, City Council speaker, and the relevant borough president) to revisit only the housing components of projects that may have been blocked in the Council.

This relieves Council members of undue pressure from opponents who exploit the process to stall or kill affordable housing. Members would still have full negotiating power on critical community benefits like parks, schools, and infrastructure.

Proposal 5 brings our zoning into the 21st century. It consolidates over 8,000 physical zoning maps into one digitized official version, making it easier, faster, and clearer to plan for more housing where it makes sense.

If you support the great work the city and state have already done to address the housing crisis, you should also support the Yes on Affordable Housing proposals—because they build upon these critical efforts.

If you want New York City to continue to be the place that firefighters, nurses, teachers and families can call home, flip your ballot and vote yes on ballot measures 2 through 5 this November. 

Mark Levine is a former City Council member, the current Manhattan borough president and incoming city comptroller.

The post Opinion: Vote Yes on Housing Ballot Proposals 2-5 appeared first on City Limits.

Early voting kicks off Saturday in the general election—the culmination of what’s been a dramatic 2025 race for the city’s next mayor, where much of the conversation has centered around housing and affordability. 

An early voting site in The Bronx during the June primaries. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Early voting kicks off Saturday in the general election—the culmination of what’s been a dramatic 2025 race for the city’s next mayor, where much of the conversation has centered around housing and affordability. 

The cost of housing is the top issue New Yorkers want the city’s next leader to address, a recent voter survey found, followed by street homelessness. The survey, conducted by the nonprofit Community Service Society (a City Limits funder), questioned 2,000 city residents in September and October. Reducing crime and expanding access to mental health care were also top priorities. 

“I wish that elected officials understood that public housing and even low income housing is still very high for renters to be able to afford,” one survey respondent wrote. “When your monthly rent is over half of your monthly salary, it’s impossible to get ahead,” said another. 

The three mayoral candidates—Democratic nominee and Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani; former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent; and Guardian Angels founder and Republican Curtis Sliwa—have each laid out their own plans to address the housing crisis.

In addition to casting a vote for mayor and other elected officials, voters can flip their ballots to weigh in on six ballot measures, three of which modify the city’s process for permitting new housing.

Ballot proposal 1 would amend the New York State Constitution to allow new ski trails in Essex County, New York.

Ballot proposal 2 would fast track publicly financed affordable housing projects and affordable housing projects in the 12 city community districts with the lowest rates of affordable housing development.

Ballot proposal 3 would create a faster review for smaller housing projects that increase housing by less than 30 percent. It would also speed up review for some climate resiliency projects, like raising streets.

Ballot proposal 4 would allow a tribunal of the mayor, City Council speaker, and representative borough president to override City Council decisions that reject or change affordable housing projects.

Ballot proposal 5 would create a single digitized city map for planning.

Ballot proposal 6 would move election dates for city offices to the same year as federal presidential elections.

Proposals two through four, which touch on affordable housing, have generated significant debate. On one side, many housing groups and citywide public officials say that the changes will accelerate housing growth in the city.

“We have a system now that allows communities that are politically and economically powerful to stop housing,” said Manhattan Borough President and incoming comptroller Mark Levine in a rally for the housing proposals last week.

The City Council opposes the measures, saying they would weaken lawmakers’ ability to negotiate with developers to secure benefits for their districts in housing deals. “They eliminate communities’ power,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams countered in a rally earlier this month.

Cuomo has come out for the housing proposals. Sliwa has urged voters to vote no. Mamdani has yet to take a stance.

Early voting will run from Saturday, Oct. 25 to Sunday, Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 4.
Here are some helpful links if you’re headed to the polls this weekend:

Check here to make sure you’re registered to vote, or call 1-866-868-3692. The last day to register online or by mail is Saturday, Oct. 25. You can do so here. The last day to register in person at your county board of elections is Nov. 3. 

Find your poll site and view a sample ballot here (note: your early voting site is typically a different location from your Election Day site).

If you experience trouble voting, call the Attorney General’s Election Protection Hotline at (866) 390-2992, or report an incident online here. 

Here’s what else happened this week in housing—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

The number of homeless children attending New York City public schools increased again in 2024-2025, surpassing 150,000 for the first time. Here’s a look at the latest data by neighborhood.

The partial building collapse at NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses earlier this month is a grim reminder of the precarious state of the city’s public housing stock. But most NYCHA developments have the same or an even greater level of repair needs than those at Mitchel, a City Limits investigation found.

New Yorkers’ heating bill rates are going up. But a program that helps low-income households pay their winter utility costs is being delayed thanks to the government shutdown.

Last year, 4,655 New York City children under the age of 6 tested positive for elevated lead levels in their blood. Here’s what tenants should know about their risk of lead paint exposure.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

A growing number of government subsidized and nonprofit-operated affordable housing developments are in financial distress, according a new analysis from the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, The City reports.

The Adams administration is looking to rezone a flood-prone neighborhood that straddles Brooklyn and Queens dubbed “The Hole,” the New York Times reports.

Efforts to expand rent stabilization beyond the five boroughs are hitting hurdles, according to City and State.

Climate disasters are among the factors driving migration to New York, according a Documented investigation.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post Your Early Voting Guide, And What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.