North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said there is no reason to avoid dialogue with the US if Washington stops insisting that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons. Kim made it clear his country will never trade its arsenal for relief from sanctions, state media reported on Monday.
Kim Jong Un says open to talk to US if Trump drops denuclearisation demand
Speaking at the Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday, Kim said, “Personally, I still have fond memories of US President [Donald] Trump,” recalling their three meetings during Trump’s first presidency. “If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States,” Kim said, according to CNN.
This remark comes just days after Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said they were open to meeting with their North Korean counterpart during a White House gathering last month. Trump said at the time, “Someday, I’ll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me,” adding that he knew Kim “better than anybody, almost, other than his sister.” Lee jokingly suggested Trump could “build a Trump Tower” in North Korea so he could “play golf there.”
Kim branded the development of nuclear weapons as a matter of survival, citing ongoing threats from the United States and South Korea. According to Kim, regular joint military drills by the allies have repeatedly resembled preparations for nuclear war.
Further going Kim even dismissed recent overtures from Washington and Seoul as insincere, claiming their true intent remains to weaken North Korea and overturn his regime. He criticised South Korea’s phased proposal for ending the North’s nuclear program as further evidence of this.
“The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms,” Kim said. “We will never give up our nuclear weapons.”
North Korean leaders say sanctions imposed are ‘learning experience’
Despite UN Security Council resolutions restricting its economy and military, North Korea has continued to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. Kim said the sanctions imposed on North Korea over the past decades are a “learning experience” that strengthened the country, before adding, “There will never be, and will never ever be for eternity, any negotiations with enemies of exchanging some things out of some obsession with lifting sanctions.”
Earlier, in an interview with Reuters, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung acknowledged the limits of sanctions, adding that North Korea is now adding an estimated 15 to 20 nuclear weapons to its arsenal every year. “The reality is that the previous approach of sanctions and pressure has not solved the problem; it has worsened it,” Lee said.
Since taking office in June, Lee has advocated for new talks with Pyongyang, proposing confidence-building measures that could eventually lead to denuclearisation. “So long as we do not give up on the long-term goal of denuclearisation, I believe there are clear benefits to having North Korea stop its nuclear and missile development,” he told Reuters. Lee also emphasised that creating the right conditions is necessary to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, with Trump potentially playing a key role.