North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un has urged the US to drop its demand the North surrender its nukes as a precondition for resuming long-stalled diplomacy.
Speaking to Pyongyang’s parliament, Kim asserted that there is “no reason not to” resume talks with the United States if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.”
Kim reiterated that he would never give up his nuclear weapons program, which experts say he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival and the extension of his family’s dynastic rule.
“The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm.
“We will never lay down our nuclear weapons … There will be no negotiations, now or ever, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions.”
Kim Jong Un
The North Korean leader also commented on US President Donald Trump, whom he met three times during Trump’s first presidency, saying, “Personally, I still have fond memories of US President Trump.”
Trump is expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, prompting media speculation that he may try to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border, as they did during their third meeting in 2019, which ultimately failed to salvage their nuclear diplomacy.
Addressing the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, Kim stated that sanctions had only made his country stronger and more resilient, despite reports that the nation of some 26 million people has long suffered from a food crisis.
The United Nations imposed sanctions on North Korea for pursuing its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes close to 20 years ago.
Kim has stepped up testing activities in recent years, demonstrating weapons of various ranges designed to strike US allies in Asia and the US mainland.
Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting US influence.
He has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of military equipment to Russia to help support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
He visited Beijing earlier this month, sharing the spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade. Experts say Kim’s rare foreign trip was likely intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of talks with the United States.
North Korea Stresses Stance On Dialogue With South Korea
Moreover, North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un stressed that he has no intention of ever resuming dialogue with rival South Korea, a key US ally that helped broker his previous summits with Trump during the American President’s first term.
Kim suspended virtually all cooperation with the South following the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over disagreements about US-led sanctions against the North.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his weapons buildup and aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Kim’s comments come after both Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung expressed their willingness to meet with their North Korean counterpart at a meeting at the White House last month.
South Korean leader, Lee Jae-myung has been vocally supportive of thawing relations with his country’s northern neighbour since taking office in June.
Despite these overtures, North Korea has been critical of joint military drills between the US and South Korea, with Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, describing them as a “reckless” invasion rehearsal.
Lee has also expressed an openness to negotiating his country’s stance on North Korea’s nuclear weapons.Speaking to a news agency recently, Lee said that he would be open to a more “realistic” goal of North Korea agreeing to stop acquiring more nuclear weapons, rather than continuing with “fruitless attempts” at making it give up its existing arsenal.
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