North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says he still holds “good memories” of former U.S. President Donald Trump, but made clear he will never abandon his nuclear arsenal or return to talks under Washington’s current conditions.
Addressing the Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday, Kim dismissed calls for denuclearization as a “delusional obsession” and warned there will be “no negotiations, now or ever, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions,” according to state media.
His comments underscored Pyongyang’s hardened stance, even as he left the door open to dialogue if the United States abandons its demands. “There is no reason not to” resume talks with Washington, Kim said, while reiterating that nuclear weapons remain his strongest guarantee of survival and the continuation of his family’s rule.
Kim also ruled out any resumption of dialogue with South Korea, once a broker of his summits with Trump. Ties between the two Koreas have collapsed since the breakdown of the 2019 Hanoi summit, and tensions have escalated as Kim accelerates weapons tests and deepens military cooperation with Russia and China.
The remarks came as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, where he is expected to urge Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. Trump is also due to visit South Korea next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, sparking speculation he may seek another meeting with Kim along the inter-Korean border.
Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push, coupled with his outreach to Moscow and Beijing, is aimed at pressuring Washington to accept the North as a nuclear power and negotiate concessions from a position of strength. Thousands of North Korean troops and large supplies of weapons have already been sent to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine, while Kim’s recent high-profile visit to Beijing, where he appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, was seen as an effort to boost his leverage.
In Seoul, concerns are mounting that South Korea may be sidelined in future diplomacy, as Kim moves to frame negotiations directly with Washington. Those fears grew after his decision last year to abandon the goal of peaceful unification and rewrite North Korea’s constitution to designate the South as a permanent enemy.