North Korea’s Kim says open to US talks if denuclearisation demands dropped

Kim Jong Un besides said helium had ‘fond memories’ of Trump, successful a code to Pyongyang’s Supreme People’s Assembly.

North Korean person Kim Jong Un has suggested that helium is unfastened to talks with the US if Washington stops insisting that his state springiness up its atomic weapons.

“If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising america and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, determination is nary crushed for america not to beryllium down with the United States,” Kim said successful a code astatine the Supreme People’s Assembly successful Pyongyang connected Sunday, according to the authoritative Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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The North Korean person besides commented connected US President Donald Trump, whom helium met 3 times during Trump’s archetypal presidency, saying: “Personally, I inactive person fond memories of US President Trump.”

Kim’s comments travel aft some Trump and South Korean person Lee Jae-myung expressed their willingness to conscionable with their North Korean counterpart astatine a gathering at the White House past month.

“Someday, I’ll spot him. I look guardant to seeing him. He was precise bully with me,” Trump said astatine the time, adding that helium knew Kim, whose household has ruled North Korea for 3 generations, “better than anybody, almost, different than his sister”.

Lee, who has been vocally supportive of thawing relations with his country’s bluish neighbour since taking office successful June, said astatine the aforesaid gathering that helium hoped the US president would “build a Trump Tower” successful North Korea “so that I tin play play there”.

North Korean person Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump wrong the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating South and North Korea connected June 30, 2019, successful Panmunjom, South Korea [Handout: Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images]

Despite overtures from Lee and Trump, North Korea has been critical of joint subject drills betwixt the US and South Korea, with Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, describing them arsenic a “reckless” penetration rehearsal.

A much realistic goal

In caller interviews with the BBC and the Reuters quality agency, Lee has besides expressed an openness to negotiating his country’s stance connected North Korea’s atomic weapons.

Speaking to the BBC connected Sunday, Lee said helium would beryllium unfastened to a much “realistic” extremity of North Korea agreeing to halt acquiring much atomic weapons, alternatively than continuing with “fruitless attempts” astatine making it springiness up its existing arsenal.

“So agelong arsenic we bash not springiness up connected the semipermanent extremity of denuclearisation, I judge determination are wide benefits to having North Korea halt its atomic and rocket development,” Lee said.

In an interrogation with Reuters, besides published connected Sunday, Lee acknowledged that sanctions had yet failed to deter Pyongyang, which contiguous is adding an estimated 15 to 20 atomic weapons to its arsenal each year.

“The world is that the erstwhile attack of sanctions and unit has not solved the problem; it has worsened it,” Lee said.

Addressing the Supreme People’s Assembly successful Pyongyang connected Sunday, Kim besides said that sanctions had lone made his state stronger and much resilient, contempt reports that the federation of immoderate 26 cardinal radical has agelong suffered from a food crisis.

“There volition ne'er be, and volition ne'er ever beryllium for eternity, immoderate negotiations with enemies of exchanging immoderate things retired of immoderate obsession with lifting sanctions,” Kim said.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean person Kim Jong Un and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev successful Beijing, China, connected September 3, 2025 [Rao Aimin/Xinhua/EPA]

The United Nations imposed sanctions connected North Korea for pursuing its banned atomic weapons and ballistic rocket programmes adjacent to 20 years ago.

But Kim Jong Un past twelvemonth promised to “exponentially” boost his nation’s atomic arsenal to support itself against “hostile” forces.

The propulsion comes arsenic the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) Yearbook warned successful its latest yearly study that the satellite is astatine hazard of a new arms race among the 9 nuclear-armed states: China, France, Israel, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US.

Meanwhile, Kim’s signalling of an openness to gathering with Washington comes aft helium met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, successful Beijing earlier this period for a military parade marking 80 years since the extremity of World War II.

In comments seemingly addressed to Xi regarding the Beijing celebrations, Trump said connected his Truth Social platform: “Please springiness my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, arsenic you conspire against the United States of America.”