Kim Jong Un ready to meet Trump - Media
Kyiv • UNN
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed his readiness to meet with US President Donald Trump. This information came from the secretary of the South Korean parliamentary intelligence committee after a closed meeting with the National Intelligence Service.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ready to meet with US President Donald Trump. This was reported by Lee Song Kwen, secretary of the South Korean parliamentary intelligence committee from the opposition, during a press briefing after a closed meeting with the country's National Intelligence Service (NIS), UNN reports with reference to Newsweek.
Details
The publication notes that Donald Trump met with Kim three times during his first term, unsuccessfully trying to persuade the North Korean leader to cut his United Nations-sanctioned nuclear weapons program in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
North Korea's nuclear arsenal remains a central source of tension with South Korea, which estimates that Kim's regime has about 50 warheads. In September 2023, North Korea amended its constitution to officially enshrine its nuclear capability, citing what it called growing military cooperation between the United States and its key regional allies, South Korea and Japan.
Addendum
Although the Trump-Kim meeting did not take place during the US president's visit to South Korea last week, "various signs have been confirmed through numerous channels indicating that North Korea has been preparing behind the scenes for dialogue with the United States," Lee quoted NIS as saying, Yonhap News reports.
He added: "There are indications that North Korea has analyzed the political trends of working-level officials in the US administration dealing with North Korean issues."
The agency also reported "slight changes" in rhetoric after Kim's fiery address to North Korea's legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly, in September.
During that speech, Kim once again emphasized his country's status as a nuclear-weapon state. He also said he had warm memories of Trump and suggested he was open to resuming dialogue provided Washington abandoned its "absurd" goal of denuclearizing North Korea.
Kim also dismissed recent gestures by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who has adopted a more conciliatory tone since taking office in June, saying that "nothing has changed substantially" and noting that denuclearization of the North remains Seoul's main goal.
Since then, the 41-year-old leader has "softened his tone" toward Washington and refrained from direct remarks about nuclear weapons, Lee quoted NIS as saying.
Recall
US President Donald Trump did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his Asian tour, although he had previously suggested the possibility of such a meeting.
At the same time, Trump did not rule out the possibility that talks with Kim Jong Un could take place later. On board Air Force One, while speaking with reporters, he stated that he hoped to meet with the North Korean leader "in the near future" and believed that he was also interested in dialogue.