US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. However, Pyongyang’s cool response suggests that, even though the two leaders’ personal relationship is “excellent,” North Korea may set tough conditions for Washington before agreeing to sit down for talks. Reuters reported the development.
Earlier this week, Trump abruptly scaled back the scope of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. He described these exercises as “hostile” toward North Korea. On Wednesday, he said he expects to meet Kim within this year.
A source familiar with talks between US and South Korean officials said Trump is keen to restart talks with North Korea and score a diplomatic success on the international stage.
There is no immediate prospect of an end to the roughly six-month-long war with Iran. Against this backdrop, Trump’s renewed outreach to North Korea is significant — particularly since Pyongyang has sent troops, military equipment and missiles to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The source said South Korea has personally shown a positive attitude toward Trump’s strategy. However, officials in Seoul remain uneasy about scaling back joint military exercises with the United States.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen, China, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this year. The source said that if North Korea shows renewed interest in talks, an opportunity for a meeting between the two leaders in that region could emerge.
A US State Department spokesperson said the United States is ready to sit down for talks with North Korea without any preconditions. “At the appropriate time, the president and Kim Jong Un will meet again,” the spokesperson said.
However, North Korea’s response so far has not been particularly encouraging. According to analysts, Pyongyang has made clear that the personal relationship between Trump and Kim is one thing, and diplomatic relations between the two countries are another.
Professor Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies said the two leaders’ personal relationship will never override North Korea’s national security interests or its push to strengthen military capability.
In his words, Pyongyang is essentially sending the message that personal diplomacy has its limits, and that it will not change their strategic priorities.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, has refused to attach significance to the decision to scale back the US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise. She claims that, since the exercise is still ongoing, it remains an aggressive act. At the same time, she said, US policy toward North Korea remains hostile.
She also denied any recent contact between Trump and Kim. However, she described the two leaders’ personal relationship as “excellent.”
South Korea’s military said North Korea launched roughly 10 ballistic missiles toward its east coast on Thursday. Analysts believe the launch was carried out in protest of the ongoing US-South Korea joint military exercises.
In a statement, Kim Yo Jong said that if the United States wants to present its recent actions as any kind of “signal of goodwill,” it will not get the response it is hoping for.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report