North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed willingness to talk with the United States, provided his country can retain its nuclear weapons, while recalling “fond memories” of then-President Donald Trump.
Kim made these remarks in a speech to North Korea’s parliament, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency.
“If the United States discards its delusional obsession with denuclearisation and, based on recognising reality, truly wishes for peaceful coexistence with us, then there is no reason we cannot meet it,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
“I still personally hold fond memories of the current US president, Trump,” Kim added, in a wide-ranging speech to the country’s rubber-stamp parliament.
The two leaders met three times during Trump’s first term, but talks broke down in Hanoi in 2019 over disagreements on North Korea’s nuclear concessions.
Kim firmly rejected U.S. demands for denuclearization, stating, “We will never give up our nuclear weapons,” and argued that sanctions have only strengthened North Korea’s resilience.
He criticized the U.S. approach, claiming it seeks to disarm countries before taking aggressive actions. Kim also dismissed any dialogue with South Korea, calling it the North’s “principal enemy” and noting the destruction of inter-Korean rail and road links.
Analysts suggest Kim’s speech reflects both confidence and a need to maintain domestic stability. Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, described it as a mix of “confidence and desperation,” aimed at both foreign and domestic audiences to prevent instability.
Kim’s remarks come as North Korea strengthens ties with Russia, bolstered by a mutual defense pact signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit last year.
North Korea has supported Russia’s war in Ukraine by sending troops and weapons, while Seoul has raised concerns about potential Russian transfers of advanced military technology to Pyongyang.
With Trump set to visit South Korea next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in Gyeongju, analysts like Lim Eul-chul from Kyungnam University see Kim’s comments as strategically timed.
“The timing of the remarks, just ahead of Trump’s trip to South Korea for the APEC summit, appears calculated,” said Lim Eul-chul at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. “It hinted at the possibility of a surprise summit, while also playing to Trump’s well-known yearning for a Nobel Prize.”
They suggest Kim may be hinting at a potential surprise summit while appealing to Trump’s interest in high-profile diplomatic achievements.
Interestingly, the New York Times recently reported a failed 2019 U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 mission, allegedly approved by Trump, to plant a listening device in North Korea.
The operation, conducted during U.S.-North Korea diplomatic talks, resulted in the deaths of several North Korean civilians, reportedly fishermen, after a series of errors.
The SEALs killed the civilians, hid their bodies in the water, and sank their vessel to conceal the incident, according to the report, which was based on interviews with U.S. officials and military personnel.
Trump denied any knowledge of the mission when questioned by reporters.
“I could look, but I know nothing about [it],” Trump said. “I’m hearing it now for the first time,” he said.
North Korea did not make any public statements about the deaths of civilians. Now, with Kim recalling “fond memories” with Donald Trump, it appears the NYT story has not really dented ties between the two leaders.
- By: ET Desk
- With AFP Inputs
