Trump reaffirms Seoul-Washington alliance; NK rejects nuke talks
US President Donald Trump highlighted the need for US armed forces to work together with the South Korean military in an "ironclad alliance" for peace on the Korean Peninsula in a statement released Monday to mark Korean War veterans day.
The comments came as Pyongyang put out a statement Tuesday stating that personal ties between the leaders of the North and the United States were "not bad," but rebuffing any talks on Pyongyang's denuclearization.
In the presidential statement to mark the National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, Trump said, "Although the evils of communism still persist in Asia, American and South Korean forces remain united in an ironclad alliance to this day."
The veterans armistice day fell on Sunday this year.
Trump also said his administration and US armed forces would remain committed to safeguarding peace on the Korean Peninsula, while highlighting his previous role in stabilizing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the sanctions enforced on North Korea to negotiate its denuclearization during his first four-year term in the White House.
"Guided by my Administration's foreign policy of peace through strength, we remain steadfastly committed to safeguarding the Korean Peninsula and working together for the noble causes of safety, stability, prosperity, and peace," read his statement.
Meanwhile, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in her statement Tuesday urged the US to recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, saying Pyongyang is not willing to resume diplomacy with Washington otherwise
In the back-to-back rebuke that followed one targeting South Korea on Monday, Kim said via the North's state media, Korean Central News Agency, that recognition of North Korea's position as a nuclear weapons state "should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking (about) everything in the future."
"Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state ... will be thoroughly rejected," she added. DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim also downplayed Washington's "unilateral assessment" of previous dialogues between Washington and Pyongyang — three times during Trump's first term in office — instead urging Trump to accept the new reality in terms of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
"It is worth taking into account the fact that the year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019," Kim said.
Kim, who serves as the vice department director of North Korea's Central Committee of the Workers' Party, also said the personal relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Trump "is not bad."
"However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party," Kim added.
Concerning Kim's statement, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Seoul and Washington have consistently expressed that both countries are open to dialogues with North Korea for a peaceful solution to peace, and regarding the nuclear weapons the regime possesses.
The two countries will "continue to engage in close communication and cooperation regarding the policy toward North Korea," adding that one such option could be a dialogue between the US and North Korea.
The government will also lay the groundwork for rebuilding trust between the two Koreas through Seoul's gesture for peace.
Earlier in the previous week, a White House official commented on the chances of US President Donald Trump resuming talks with the North Korean leader. An unnamed official told Yonhap News Agency that Trump "remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea," adding that Trump retains the objective of stabilizing the Korean Peninsula.
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