WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said in in an interview aired Thursday that he intends to reengage with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"I will, yeah," Trump said in the interview with Fox News, when asked if he will reach out to the North Korean leader, with whom he held in-person meetings three times during his first presidency.

Calling Kim a "smart guy," Trump, who returned to the White House on Monday for a nonconsecutive second term, said, "I got along with him. He's not a religious zealot."

Trump has repeatedly said he had a good relationship with Kim during his first presidency, although their nuclear talks ultimately collapsed in 2019, and suggested a number of times his desire to rekindle diplomacy with North Korea.

Hours after he took office on Monday, Trump characterized North Korea as a "nuclear power" and said he believes Kim should be happy to see his return as president.

There is speculation that in an attempt to revive talks Trump could refrain from trying to persuade Kim to completely dismantle North Korea's nuclear arsenal.

It remains unclear if his description of North Korea marked a departure from Washington's long-held position of not officially recognizing the country as a nuclear weapons state and aiming for its complete denuclearization.