The North Korean communist regime – through state media, ministry statements, and words attributed to dictator Kim Jong-un – changed its approach towards the United States on Thursday, urging President Donald Trump to restart denuclearization talks.
According to Chung Eui-yong, a special South Korean envoy to Pyongyang who returned to Seoul on Thursday, Kim expressed the hope that the United States and North Korea could complete denuclearization by the end of President Trump’s first term.
Kim’s positive comments follow the cancelation of a recently scheduled trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang. President Trump said at the time that it was not a good time for direct talks because the Chinese government was helping North Korea violate international sanctions on its economy.
North Korea has yet to clearly define “denuclearization” as an end to its illegal nuclear weapons program, leaving the window open for other, broader definitions that could include the complete removal of American military assets from the Korean peninsula, as America is a nuclear-armed country.
North Korea’s foreign ministry also issued an open-ended statement following Chung’s visit welcoming diplomacy with all nations on the planet, without mentioning any specific countries.
“We will push to improve and normalize ties with any countries that show their respect for our sovereignty and treat us friendly even if they have had hostile relations with us before,” the foreign ministry said, according to South Korean news service Yonhap. “Putting our dignity and interests first, we will actively manage our foreign affairs and develop them from various angles, while being ready to advance exchanges and cooperation on many fronts even with capitalist countries.”
Currently, North Korea enjoys friendly relations with only a handful of rogue states, including Cuba, Syria, Venezuela, China, and Iran.
Returning from Pyongyang, Chung told reporters that Kim Jong-un himself is eager to speak to President Trump again.
“Chairman Kim especially stressed that he has never talked negative about President Trump to his staff or anyone else. And he said he hoped to end 70 years of a hostile relationship between North Korea and the U.S., and realize denuclearization by improving the North-U.S. relationship within Trump’s first term,” Chung said. “(Kim) said North Korea has pre-emptively taken necessary measures to denuclearize and that he hoped such goodwill measures would be considered goodwill.”
Among the steps that Kim cited as gestures of goodwill was the dramatic shutdown of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in May, which cost reporters from around the world $10,000 each to attend. North Korean officials banned any journalists with an academic background in nuclear science from attending the event, making it impossible for the outside world to tell for sure if Punggye-ri, which hosted the last two North Korean nuclear weapons tests, is still functional.
In contrast to the Punggye-ri spectacle, satellite images taken of missile developing sites since then indicate that North Korea’s military is continuing to manufacture intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Kim did not address these reports in his remarks to Chung, according to the information publicly available of their meeting.
The most important part of Kim’s message to Chung was a note that Pyongyang was willing to accelerate its measures towards shutting down its illegal nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Kim “strongly stressed that he may be able to take more active measures for denuclearization of North Korea should there be rewards for such pre-emptive measures taken by North Korea,” Chung said.
North Korea is currently under an unprecedentedly severe international sanctions regime that prevents it from exporting most of its major goods. American officials have repeatedly stated that they would not ease the sanctions until North Korea can prove that it no longer has the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons, while North Korea has requested that the sanctions drop every time Kim makes a gesture towards denuclearizing rather than wait for proof that the country has indeed done so.
On Thursday, North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun repeated that request.
“Sanctions and pressure can never go together with dialogue,” the newspaper asserted. “Pressure will only heighten the other party’s vigilance and do more harm than good to dialogue.”
Rodong Sinmun accused Washington of paying “only lip service to the improvement of relations” instead of lifting sanctions.
At his Seoul press conference, Chung concluded his statements by saying that Kim “said his faith in President Trump remains unchanged. He made that clear.”
President Trump responded to the latter remark on Twitter, commenting, “Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”
Kim’s next diplomatic engagement is scheduled to occur between September 18 to 20, when South Korean President Moon Jae-in will make his first visit to Pyongyang, the first by a South Korean head of state.
“I came to have big expectations about the (upcoming) inter-Korean summit. I have expectations that (the summit) could facilitate U.S.-North Korea talks aimed at complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said following Chung’s return to Seoul.
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