Why North Korea is ‘keeping the door open for dialogue’ with Trump
At first glance, Kim Yo-jong’s latest message to Washington looked like a rebuff to US President Donald Trump’s insistence that he would meet her brother Kim Jong-un later this year. But analysts said the North Korean leader’s powerful sister stopped well short of shutting down Trump’s outreach, using a carefully worded statement to leave room for renewed summit diplomacy while making clear that…
Kim Yo-jong's recent message to the US seemed at first like a rebuff to President Donald Trump's desire to meet her brother, Kim Jong-un. Analysts, however, noted that she kept the door open for potential negotiations, using her carefully chosen words to maintain flexibility while making it clear that Pyongyang would set its own terms for dialogue.
In her statement, released by North Korean state media, Kim dismissed Trump's decision to scale back joint US-South Korea military exercises as insignificant. She demanded a complete halt to these drills and warned against what Pyongyang labels as Washington's "hostile" policy. Yet, her statement also left room for continued dialogue.
Kim neither confirmed nor denied whether Trump's comment about Kim Jong-un's positive response to their latest overture was accurate, stating it was "perhaps" the most sensitive foreign policy matter involving North Korea's "supreme leadership" she was unaware of.
Kim emphasized that North Korea has always maintained "personally good memories and feelings" towards Trump, a point that allowed Pyongyang to avoid embarrassing the US leader while reaffirming the "excellent" personal relationship between the two. This ambiguity allowed North Korea to avoid looking weak while reaffirming a personal connection, suggesting that they were open to dialogue but only if the US accepted a much higher entry price.
This could include accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, dropping denuclearisation from the immediate agenda, and having a negotiating framework shaped by Pyongyang rather than Washington.
Meanwhile, Trump seemed to hint at the possibility of meeting Kim Jong-un later this year, noting that North Korea had 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons. His remarks came as reports suggested he intended to meet Kim during his next trip to Asia, likely to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.
Trump told reporters, "Yeah, I will be," when asked whether he expected to meet Kim Jong-un. He also mentioned that he couldn't confirm whether he was exchanging written letters with Kim Jong-un.
Trump's renewed interest in North Korea could be driven by his desire to achieve a major foreign policy victory, which might divert attention from the ongoing war in Iran, tarnishing his image as a peacemaker and contributing to inflation ahead of the US midterm elections in November. However, it remains to be seen whether Kim Jong-un will respond to Trump's overtures, given North Korea's strong ties with Russia and China, which have reduced Pyongyang's reliance on US support.
Analysts suggest that Pyongyang's message was designed to keep the door open for dialogue while avoiding any embarrassment to the US leader.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
