Shafaqna Pakistan: US President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, but Pyongyang has responded cautiously, indicating that any talks could come with strict conditions despite the leaders’ previously described “excellent” relationship.
Trump’s latest outreach follows his decision earlier this week to scale back joint US military exercises with South Korea, which he described as “hostile” toward North Korea. He said on Wednesday that he expected to meet Kim before the end of the year.
According to a person briefed on discussions between US and South Korean officials, Trump is keen to revive negotiations with North Korea and secure a diplomatic achievement on the international stage.
The renewed outreach comes as there is no immediate prospect of an end to the nearly six-month conflict in Iran. It also follows North Korea’s reported support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, including the deployment of troops and the provision of military equipment and missiles.
South Korea has been privately receptive to Trump’s strategy, although officials in Seoul still have doubts about reducing joint military exercises with the United States, the source said.
Trump may travel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen later this year, creating an opportunity for a meeting in the region if North Korea proves receptive to renewed engagement, according to the source.
“The United States remains open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions,” said a US State Department spokesperson. “The president and Kim Jong Un will meet again at the appropriate time.”
The White House declined to comment. South Korea’s presidential office did not respond to a request for comment, but its foreign ministry referred to an earlier statement expressing hope that Trump’s comments lead to meaningful dialogue with Pyongyang.
North Korea’s response so far, however, while praising Kim and Trump’s “excellent personal relationship,” makes clear that it views their personal rapport as separate from any engagement with the US, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
In years past, you would see industries align heavily with Republicans or Democrats. What you’re seeing now is they are fairly transactional.
“Personal ties will never be allowed to compromise national security interests or efforts to strengthen military capabilities,” Lim said.
“In other words, Pyongyang is signalling that personal diplomacy has limits and will not override strategic priorities.”
Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s influential sister, has dismissed the scale-back of the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, saying its continuation remained aggressive and that the US policy towards North Korea was still hostile. She also denied that Trump and Kim had had any contact, although she described the personal relationship between the leaders as “excellent.”
On Thursday, North Korea launched about 10 ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea’s military, in what analysts said may have been a protest against the ongoing US-South Korea exercises.
“If the US side attempts to promote the measures they have taken this time as some kind of ‘goodwill gesture,’ they will not get the answer they desire,” Kim Yo Jong said in her statement, according to state news agency KCNA.
Source: Dunya News
