South Korea's spy agency sees a high possibility that North Korea and the United States will hold a summit, suggesting that Pyongyang may pursue a meeting after March next year, a lawmaker said.

The North Korean leader has previously shown little interest in renewed diplomacy with President Donald Trump, who met with him three times during his first term.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised South Korea's plans to raise its military spending, saying Tuesday that the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions as the allies must brace for regional contingencies.

Facing North Korea's growing nuclear and missile capabilities, the U.S. is bolstering its combat power in South Korea by upgrading F-16 fighter jets and establishing an MQ-9 drone squadron for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Washington has also provided advanced armaments, including F-35A stealth fighter jets, to Seoul.

N. Korea fired multiple artillery rockets earlier this week, coinciding with a joint visit by the defense chiefs of S. Korea and the U.S. to the DMZ

Hegseth and Ahn also visited the Panmunjom border village, where an armistice was signed to pause the 1950-53 Korean War. Ahn’s ministry said the visit “reaffirmed the firm combined defense posture and close coordination” between the allies.

“The (National Intelligence Services) NIS believes that Kim Jong Un is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States and will have contact with the United States in the future when conditions are met,” lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun told the media after a briefing by the South Korean spy agency.

Kim Yong Nam, a quintessential North Korean bureaucrat whose lifelong loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty allowed him to serve as the country’s ceremonial head of state for two decades, has died, North Korea's state media reported Tuesday.