North Korea's Kim Open To Trump Talks If US Drops Denuclearisation Demands

North Korea's Kim reiterated that denuclearisation was not an option.

South Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he has "fond memories" of US President Donald Trump and is open to future talks with the United States -- if he can maintain his nuclear arsenal.

Kim engaged in three high-profile summits with Trump during his first presidential term, before negotiations collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 over disagreements regarding concessions on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The United States' insistence on Kim abandoning his prohibited weapons has consistently been a major obstacle between the two nations, with Pyongyang facing multiple rounds of UN sanctions due to its nuclear and missile development activities.

"If the United States abandons its unrealistic fixation on denuclearisation and, acknowledging reality, genuinely desires peaceful coexistence with us, then we have no reason to refuse dialogue," Kim stated, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

"I personally still cherish fond memories of the current US president, Trump," Kim added during a comprehensive address to the country's rubber-stamp parliament.

Following the unsuccessful 2019 summit, North Korea has consistently maintained it will never surrender its nuclear weapons and has declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power.

Kim emphasized again that denuclearisation remains off the table.

"The world is well aware of what happens after the United States forces a country to abandon its nuclear weapons and disarm," he said.

"We will never relinquish our nuclear weapons."

Kim claimed that sanctions have only resulted in North Korea "growing stronger, developing endurance and resistance that cannot be broken by any pressure".

Kim also stated he had "no reason to engage with South Korea", despite Seoul's new President Lee Jae-myung's efforts to reduce tensions with the North.

"We clearly state that we will not interact with them in any capacity," he said.

In recent years, North Korea has designated the South as its primary enemy and demolished rail connections and roads linking the two countries.

- Russia ties -

"The extensive and detailed justifications reflect both confidence and desperation," Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.

"While seemingly directed at foreign powers, the speech contained a strong domestic message, attempting to prevent instability," Yang said.

According to analysts, Kim has been emboldened by the Ukraine conflict, securing vital support from Russia after deploying thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Moscow's forces.

North Korea has emerged as one of Russia's key allies since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago, sending thousands of troops and shipments of weapons to assist the Kremlin in pushing Ukrainian forces out of western Russia, following Kyiv's unexpected incursion last year.

Moscow and Pyongyang established a mutual defense agreement last year during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the isolated nation.

Seoul has frequently warned that Russia is increasing its support for Pyongyang, including the potential transfer of sensitive Russian military technology.

Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea next month, when the country hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in its southern city of Gyeongju.

"The timing of these remarks, just before Trump's visit to South Korea for the APEC summit, appears strategic," said Lim Eul-chul at South Korea's Kyungnam University.

"It suggested the possibility of an unexpected summit, while also appealing to Trump's well-known desire for a Nobel Prize."