Kim Jong Un Says He’s Open to Reunion With Trump, but There’s a Catch
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday that he is prepared to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at any time, but warned that he would pursue an alternative course if Washington kept up sanctions on Pyongyang.
In his closely watched New Year’s address, Kim said he was ready to pursue an outcome that would be “welcomed by the international community.” However, he said the North will be forced to take a different path if the United States “continues to break its promises and misjudges our patience by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushes ahead with sanctions and pressure.”
Kim also said the U.S. should continue its halt to joint military exercises with South Korea and not deploy strategic military assets to the South. He also made a nationalistic call urging for stronger inter-Korean cooperation and said the North is ready to resume operations at a jointly run factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and restart South Korean tours to the North’s Diamond Mountain resort. Neither of those is possible for South Korea unless sanctions are removed.
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for months as they struggle with the sequencing of North Korea’s disarmament and the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Some analysts say North Korea has been trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul while putting the larger burden of action on the United States. Pyongyang over the past months has accused Washington of failing to take corresponding measures following the North’s unilateral dismantlement of a nuclear testing ground and suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests.
North Korea also has bristled at U.S. demands to provide a detailed account of nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal. (Read more from “Kim Jong Un Says He’s Open to Reunion With Trump, but There’s a Catch” HERE)
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