Latest news with #DPRK-US
Gulf Insider
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
North Korea Demands U.S. Recognize It as Nuclear Power
North Korea is demanding that the United States recognize it as a permanent nuclear power, according to the latest words of Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a senior official in the country's ruling Workers Party. She was commenting Tuesday through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the possibility of renewing diplomatic talks with Washington, and laid out that any future negotiations must begin with a clear acknowledgment of North Korea's 'irreversible' status as a nuclear-armed state. In essence she vowed to never give up nukes, amid the long-running South Korean and US-backed push for nuclear disarmament on the peninsula. Kim warned further that attempts to deny this new reality 'will be completely rejected' and stressed the country remains resolute and ready to defend itself in any situation. Any future talks must be premised on the fact that Pyongyang's capabilities and the geopolitical environment had 'radically changed'. This new reality must be the basis for 'everything in the future,' she said. 'Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state, which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all the DPRK people, will be thoroughly rejected,' Kim said. 'The DPRK is open to any option in defending its present national position,' she added. It is by 'no means beneficial' for the US and North Korea to be in confrontation, so the Trump administration should 'seek another way of contact on the basis of such new thinking.' Much of this messaging appeared a response and reaction to recent regional reporting that President Trump aims to achieve a 'fully denuclearized' North Korea. She also addressed the several warm, and unprecedented, visits between Kim Jong-Un and Trump during the US leader's first term: Kim also said that while the relationship between her brother and US President Donald Trump was 'not bad', any attempt to use their personal relations to advance denuclearization would be interpreted as a 'mockery'. 'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the US side,' she said. Between 2018 and 2019, Trump met with Kim Jong-un no less than three times, but which resulted in no firm lasting agreement related to denuclearization and the economic incentives reportedly offered. Instead relations were arguably improved slightly, at least in terms of opening up the possibility of further dialogue. Pyongyang fears that the moment it gave up its nuclear arsenal, it could be subject to a regime change war – akin to what has happened with Iraq, Libya, Syria, or Iran. This fear is obviously not irrational, given recent history of countries which were persuaded to give up WMD programs. Also read: Smartphones in North Korea Spy on Citizens – Prevent Them From Using Language Not Authorised by the State
The Star
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
N. Korea: No deal on nukes
Pyongyang said the United States must accept that reality has changed since the countries' summit meetings in the past, and no future dialogue would end its nuclear programme, state media KCNA reported. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who is believed to speak for her brother, said she conceded that the personal relationship between Kim and US President Donald Trump 'is not bad'. But if Washington intended to use a personal relationship as a way to end the North's nuclear weapons programme, the effort would only be the subject of 'mockery,' Yo-jong said in a statement carried by KCNA yesterday. 'If the United States fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the US side,' she said, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korea's capabilities as a nuclear weapons state and the geopolitical environment have radically changed since Jong-un and Trump held talks three times during the US president's first term, she said. 'Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state ... will be thoroughly rejected,' she said. Highlighting the improving ties between North Korea and Russia, another KCNA report noted the resumption of the first direct passenger flight between Pyongyang and Moscow in decades that arrived in the North Korean capital on Monday. The flight resumed 'amid the daily-growing many-sided visits and contact between' North Korea and Russia, KCNA confirmed yesterday. North Korea has provided troops and arms for Russia's war in Ukraine, a move that has been criticised by the United States and its allies that have in turn accused Moscow of giving technological help to Pyongyang in exchange for its support. Asked about the North Korean statement, a White House official said Trump was still committed to the goal he had for the three summit meetings he held with Jong-un in his first term. 'The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearised North Korea,' the White House official said. At their first meeting in Singapore in 2018, Trump and Jong-un signed an agreement in principle to make the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. The subsequent summit in Hanoi next year broke down due to a disagreement over removing international sanctions that had been imposed against Pyongyang. Trump has said he has a 'great relationship' with Jong-un, and the White House has said the president is receptive to the idea of communicating with the reclusive North Korean leader. — Reuters
Muscat Daily
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
North Korea says US should abandon denuclearisation push
North Korea on Tuesday urged the US to abandon any attempts to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. US President Donald Trump, who began his second term in January, is interested in resuming talks with North Korea on denuclearisation. During his first term in the years of 2018 and 2019, Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in Singapore, Vietnam and at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. Although the Trump administration wanted North Korea to give up its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, no deal was struck between the two sides and Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear aspirations. Trump-Kim relationship 'not bad' Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Trump's personal relationship with the North Korean leader is 'not bad'. However, she said if the US administration were to use the Trump-Kim relationship to push for North Korean denuclearisation, Pyongyang would consider it 'nothing but a mockery'. 'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remains as a 'hope' of the US side,' Kim Yo Jong said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Yo Jong's remarks suggest that North Korea is ruling out complete denuclearisation as an option if talks are relaunched with the US. Trump seeking same objectives A White House official told Reuters news agency that Trump is still seeking the same objectives in regards to North Korea as he did in the first term. 'The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearised North Korea,' the unnamed US official told Reuters. During Trump's first term, the president had sometimes an unusually friendly relationship with Kim after a tense start, with Trump saying the two leaders 'fell in love'. After nuclear negotiations broke down in October 2019, the two leaders began exchanging insults, with North Korea in December of that year threatening to call him a 'dotard'. How the ties evolved? Since Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, US and North Korea ties have grown more fraught. Trump's successor, Joe Biden, did not continue the flashy diplomatic engagements with Kim that were a feature of Trump's first administration. Instead, the Biden administration chose to deepen ties with South Korea and Japan in a bid to further isolate Pyongyang. North Korea, meanwhile, has been growing closer with Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has sent weapons and troops to assist Russia's assault, with Moscow in turn backing North Korea's nuclear programme. The US firmly opposed the invasion of Ukraine during Biden's term, with Trump in his second term also pushing Russia to commit to a ceasefire and end the conflict. DW
DW
29-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
North Korea says US should abandon denuclearization push – DW – 07/29/2025
US President Donald Trump is seeking fresh talks with North Korea on its nuclear program, returning to the direct engagement seen during his first term. Kim's powerful sister has said denuclearization is off the table. North Korea on Tuesday urged the US to abandon any attempts to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons program. US President Donald Trump, who began his second term in January, is interested in resuming talks with North Korea on denuclearization. During his first term in the years of 2018 and 2019, Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in Singapore, Vietnam and at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. Although the Trump administration wanted North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, no deal was struck between the two sides and Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear aspirations. Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Trump's personal relationship with the North Korean leader is "not bad." However, she said if the US administration were to use the Trump-Kim relationship to push for North Korean denuclearization, Pyongyang would consider it "nothing but a mockery." "If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remains as a 'hope' of the US side," Kim Yo Jong said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Yo Jong's remarks suggest that North Korea is ruling out complete denuclearization as an option if talks are relaunched with the US. A White House official told Reuters news agency that Trump is still seeking the same objectives in regards to North Korea as he did in the first term. "The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea," the unnamed US official told Reuters. During Trump's first term, the president had sometimes a unusually friendly relationship with Kim after a tense start, with Trump saying the two leaders "fell in love." After nuclear negotiations broke down in October 2019, the two leaders began exchanging insults, with North Korea in December of that year threatening to call him a "dotard." Since Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, US and North Korea ties have grown more fraught. Trump's successor, Joe Biden, did not continue the flashy diplomatic engagements with Kim that were a feature of Trump's first administration. Instead, the Biden administration chose to deepen ties with South Korea and Japan in a bid to further isolate Pyongyang. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video North Korea, meanwhile, has been growing closer with Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has sent weapons and troops to assist Russia's assault, with Moscow in turn backing North Korea's nuclear program. The US firmly opposed the invasion of Ukraine during Biden's term, with Trump in his second term also pushing Russia to commit to a ceasefire and end the conflict.
Hindustan Times
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
North Korea says Kim-Trump ties 'not bad' but ‘not giving up nuclear weapons'
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismissed the US's intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea's denuclearisation, as she urged Washington to accept her country as a nuclear weapons state and find a new approach to restart talks. Donald Trump has recently bragged about his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed hopes of restarting nuclear diplomacy between them.(AP) Kim Yo Jong's statement suggested North Korea would only return to talks if the US rewards it for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability. Some experts say US President Donald Trump could still pursue talks with North Korea to make a diplomatic achievement. Trump has recently bragged about his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed hopes of restarting nuclear diplomacy between them. Their high-stakes diplomacy in 2018-19 that occurred during Trump's first term unravelled after Trump rejected Kim's calls for extensive sanctions relief in return for dismantling his main nuclear complex, a limited denuclearisation step. Kim has since executed weapons tests to modernise and expand his nuclear arsenal. Kim's sister calls relations between her brother, Trump, 'not bad' In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said she doesn't deny the personal relationship between her brother and Trump 'is not bad.' But she said if their personal relations are to serve the purpose of North Korea's denuclearisation, North Korea would view it as 'nothing but a mockery.' She said North Korea's nuclear capability has sharply increased since the first round of the Kim-Trump diplomacy and that any attempt to deny North Korea as a nuclear weapons state would be rejected. 'If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the U.S. side,' Kim Yo Jong said, referring to her country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She said it would be 'advisable to seek another way of contact." Kim Yo Jong is a key official on the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party. She handles the country's relations with South Korea and the United States, and South Korean officials and experts believe she is the North's second-most powerful person after her brother. North Korea likely wants talks on partial denuclearisation Kim Yo Jong said she was responding to reported comments by a U.S. official that Trump is open to talks on denuclearisation. She likely was referring to a Saturday article by Yonhap news agency that cited an unidentified White House official as saying Trump 'remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearised North Korea.' 'North Korea wants to say it's not interested in talks on denuclearisation and the U.S. must determine what benefits it can give to the North first,' said Nam Sung-wook, a former head of the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea's spy agency. Nam said Trump's likely desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize would prompt him to seek talks with Kim Jong Un and give him corresponding benefits for taking phased denuclearisation steps. Nam said North Korea would want broad sanctions relief, a suspension of U.S.-South Korea military drills that it regards as invasion rehearsals and other economic incentives. Kim Yeol Soo, an analyst at South Korea's Korea Institute for Military Affairs, said U.S. and North Korean officials could meet if they narrow some differences on terms for restoring talks. But he said Trump's unpredictability would make it extremely difficult to predict what concessions the Americans would offer. Prospects for early U.S.-North Korea talks likely depend on the Russia-Ukraine war Other experts have earlier said that North Korea — now preoccupied with its expanding cooperation with Russia — sees no urgent need to resume diplomacy with the US and South Korea. On Monday, Kim Yo Jong rebuffed overtures by South Korea's new liberal government, saying its 'blind trust' in the country's alliance with the US and hostility toward North Korea make it no different from its conservative predecessor. Nam said prospects for an early resumption of U.S.-North Korea diplomacy would depend on whether the Russia-Ukraine war ends soon and U.S. tariff negotiations with other countries are proceeded in a direction that Trump wants. Kim, the analyst, said Trump may use his likely attendance of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea this autumn as a chance to travel on to North Korea or a Korean border village to meet Kim Jong Un. Kim Yo Jong on Monday described as 'a daydream' a reported South Korean idea of inviting her brother to the regional summit.
