President Donald J. Trump said he would contact North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, asking the possibility of rejuvenating their diplomacy, five years after the first round of their negotiations that caught global attention, but did little to reduce the growing nuclear Threat to Mr. Kim. .
“I liked him and did well with him,” Mr Trump said during an interview with Fox News presenter Sean Hanti, after saying that he would contact Mr Kim again in his second term. “He is not a religious zealous. He happens to be a smart guy. “
Mr Trump’s comments, broadcast on Thursday night, were the first time he expressed his intention to reopen diplomacy with Mr Kim since he took up his duties on Monday. During his first term, Mr Trump and Mr Kim wrote history when they held the first summit between their nations, which remain technically at war. But their relationship broke up as their three high profile meetings failed to make any progress.
It is not clear whether and how Mr Kim, who has been encouraged by a stronger alliance with Russia and his country’s military advances, will respond to the initiatives this time. Since Mr Trump last met with Kim five years ago, North Korea’s missile capabilities have expanded and could require a higher price to make concessions to his nuclear program, analysts say.
Mr Trump had expressed interest in the North Korean leader during his election campaign, at some point saying that “it is nice to consult when someone has many nuclear weapons.” Hours after his swearing -in, reporters also told reporters that Mr Kim was a “nuclear power”, a change from Washington’s long -term refusal to recognize North Korea as such.
Officials in South Korea, a US ally affected by an internal political crisis after referring to its leader, are afraid that Mr Trump’s return could put the Korean peninsula again on a diplomatic train.
During his first term, Mr Trump and Mr Kim initially exchanged personal insults and threats to nuclear war. They then gave their hands and held three meetings between 2018 and 2019. At some point, Mr Trump told social media that “there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea” and that he “fell in love” Mr. Kim.
These talks, however, ended without an agreement on how to recall North Korean nuclear and ballistic missiles or when the United States should loosen the sanctions imposed on the country. Mr Kim promised not to get involved in Washington again in dialogue and has doubled the construction and testing of nuclear missiles.
Now, South Korean analysts and officials are afraid that Mr Trump may conclude an agreement with Mr Kim, according to which North Korea will abandon the large range missiles, but not all its nuclear weapons, in return for sanctions relief. .
Mr Trump’s recent statement describing North Korea as a nuclear power comes into conflict with a long -term agreement between Washington and Seoul that North Korea should never be accepted as such.
“We cannot give North Korea nuclear power regime,” the South Korean Ministry of Defense said in a statement following Mr Trump’s comment.
Despite Mr Trump’s flattering comments about Mr Kim, it was not clear if the dictator would excite the idea of ​​a refreshed courtyard. Following the collapse of the first round of meetings, Mr Kim supported a new “multipolar” world order, signing a mutual defensive agreement with Moscow last year and sending weapons and about 12,000 troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Despite the heavy casualties in the war against Ukraine, North Korea was preparing to send more troops to Russia, the South Korean army said on Friday.
China has long been the only important barrier between North Korea and international efforts under the US leadership to tackle the military ambitions of its regime. In return for Russia’s help in the war against Ukraine, Mr Kim has recruited Moscow as another important ally to protect his country from US pressure.
North Korea had not commented on Mr Trump’s election or swearing -in by Wednesday, when her state -owned media reported a report with two phrases.
The regime, however, launched rockets off its east coast on the days before the inauguration. And he is preparing to launch more rockets, according to the South Korean army, including long -range ballistic missiles, strong enough to reach the mainland United States, who tend to disturb the US officials.
North Korean state media reported on Friday that the country’s parliament approved budgets this week for the year that would “ensure the acceleration of significant change in national defense potential”.
Mr Kim will probably be waiting for a meeting of the Labor Party in June or another parliamentary rally in September to react to Mr Trump’s proposal, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korean Institute of National Integration in Seoul.
“She will react after measuring the seriousness, intention and calculations of the Trump government behind her approach to North Korea,” Mr Hong said.
