North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country is willing to hold talks with the United States if Washington abandons its demand for denuclearisation, though he insisted Pyongyang would never relinquish its nuclear arsenal in exchange for an end to sanctions.

“Personally, I still have fond memories of U.S. President (Donald) Trump,” Kim was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday. The two leaders held three summits during Trump’s first presidency.

Kim stated, “If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States.”

The remarks marked the first time Kim has directly mentioned Trump since the US president took office in January, according to Rachel Minyoung Lee, a North Korea expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center. She said, “This is an overture. It is Kim’s invitation to Trump to rethink U.S. policy on denuclearisation, the implication being that if the U.S. drops denuclearisation, he could sit face-to-face with Trump.”

While extending warmth towards Trump, Kim dismissed the idea of engaging with South Korea, describing Seoul as “a main enemy.” He argued that North Korea’s nuclear programme was a matter of survival against “grave threats” posed by the United States and its ally, South Korea, through regular military drills that he said had effectively turned into preparations for nuclear war.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, in an interview with Reuters, said North Korea was building 15 to 20 nuclear bombs annually and argued that any deal to freeze such production would be “a useful step” towards eventual dismantlement. “Based on that, we can proceed to medium-term negotiations for nuclear weapons reductions, and in the long run, once mutual trust is restored and North Korea’s regime-security concerns are reduced, we can pursue denuclearisation,” he said.

Kim rejected such proposals outright. “The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms. We will never give up our nuclear weapons,” he declared. He added that sanctions had been “a learning experience” that made North Korea stronger and more resilient.

Despite United Nations sanctions and arms embargoes imposed since its first nuclear test in 2006, North Korea has continued to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities. South Korea’s Lee argued that sanctions and pressure had “not solved the problem; it has worsened it.”

The South Korean president urged Trump to seek direct talks with Kim when he visits Seoul next month for an Asia-Pacific summit. However, the Stimson Center’s Lee suggested Kim’s remarks were also an attempt to sideline Seoul. “Perhaps he wants to get ahead of the Lee government and dissuade the Trump administration from cooperating with South Korea by reiterating that South Korea is a separate country and, therefore, cannot be a party to the North Korean nuclear issue,” she said.

Lee acknowledged Pyongyang’s refusal to engage with Seoul and admitted that there were no signs of concrete US-North Korea discussions, but maintained that his phased approach remained the most realistic path forward. “Our main task now is to create the conditions for dialogue,” he said.

Faridah Abdulkadiri

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