North Korea’s Kim says open to talks with US if it drops demand on denuclearisation

Seoul, Sep 22 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he has a “good memory” of US President Donald Trump and Pyongyang is open to talks with the United States if Washington drops its demand for the North’s denuclearisation.

Kim made the remarks during his speech Sunday at a two-day key parliamentary meeting, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported Monday, after Trump expressed hope to meet with the North’s leader this year during his summit with President Lee Jae Myung last month.

The North’s leader made it clear that his country will never give up nuclear arms but said the North could sit down with the US if Washington does not demand denuclearisation as a condition for talks.

“If the US drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization and wants to pursue peaceful coexistence with North Korea based on the recognition of reality, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the US,” Kim said.

“Personally, I still have a good memory of US President Trump,” he added.

It marked the first time that Kim has directly commented on his ties with Trump since the US leader began his second term in January. His sister, Kim Yo-jong, said in July that personal ties between Kim and Trump are “not bad.”

Kim’s message came amid speculation that Trump may seek a surprise meeting with Kim, possibly at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, when he travels to South Korea to attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Trump met with Kim three times during his first term — two summit talks, in Singapore in June 2018 and in Hanoi in February 2019, and a brief meeting at the border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

Since the Hanoi summit ended without a deal due to disagreements over conditions for Washington’s sanctions relief, the North’s denuclearisation talks have stalled.

During the latest speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly meeting, Kim stressed the North has no will to abandon its nuclear weapons, saying they will not be a bargaining chip, Yonhap news agency reported.

“I affirm that there will never, never be denuclearisation for us,” Kim said, highlighting that its “irreversible” status as a nuclear power has been enshrined in the constitution.

“There will never be such negotiations with the enemies as trading something while being obsessed with sanctions relief,” Kim said.

South Korea and the US have affirmed the goal of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. But experts said Trump may seek a “small deal” with the North — a freeze on Pyongyang’s nuclear programme or nuclear disarmament — to resume dialogue with Kim.

Touching on South Korea, the North’s leader reaffirmed his hostile stance against the South, saying he will neither sit down with Seoul for talks nor seek unification with it.

“We will never unify with a country that entrusts its politics and defence to a foreign power,” Kim said, calling inter-Korean unification “unnecessary.”

In December 2023, the North’s leader defined inter-Korean ties as those between “two states hostile to each other” and vowed not to seek reconciliation and unification with the South.

He also threatened to stage a nuclear attack against South Korea if the North isn’t able to use its nuclear weapons as a war deterrent.

“Then, the military organisation and the substructure of the Republic of Korea and its allies of surrounding areas will collapse in an instant. This means an annihilation,” Kim said, using South Korea’s official name.

Kim rejected President Lee’s three-stage denuclearisation plan for North Korea, saying the idea was merely a “copy” of his predecessors’ proposals.

Lee earlier said he will pursue a three-stage denuclearisation plan for the North, starting with a freeze on the North’s nuclear and missile programs in the first stage.

Since taking office in June, Lee has offered a peace overture toward North Korea in a bid to mend frayed ties with North Korea.

He also publicly expressed his support for Trump’s pursuit of dialogue with Kim. Lee asked for Trump to play a “peacemaker role” to chart a “new path” for peace on the Korean Peninsula when he met with Trump in Washington in August.

In a recent interview with Britain’s BBC, Lee said his government would accept a possible deal between Trump and Kim to freeze the North’s nuclear programmes as an “an interim emergency measure” and “a feasible, realistic alternative.”

Meanwhile, Kim cited key accomplishments in the defence sector for this year during his speech, including the construction of new naval destroyers.

“We’ve newly possessed secret weapons and achieved feats in the defence science field that will greatly help bolster our military capability,” he said, without elaborating on what secret weapons are.

–IANS

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