Speaking with the official Korean news agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed “fond memories” of U.S President Donald Trump and signaled openness to future talks with Washington—provided he can hold on to his nuclear arsenal.
Kim met with Trump three times for high-profile summits during his first term, but the talks collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 over how far Pyongyang was willing to go on its nuclear arsenal.
Washington’s demand that Kim give up his banned weapons has long been a sticking point between the two countries, with Pyongyang facing UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs.
“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. “The world already knows well what the United States does after it forces a country to give up its nuclear arms and disarm,” noted, adding
We will never give up our nuclear weapons.
Kim also insisted sanctions had only helped North Korea in “growing stronger, building endurance and resistance that cannot be crushed by any pressure.”
Kim has strengthened ties with Russia too amid the conflict in Ukraine, sending North Korean troops and military equipment to support Moscow.
