North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated that his country sees no obstacle to engaging in dialogue with the United States—provided Washington stops insisting that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons. The remarks were reported Monday by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
During a session of the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday, Kim revealed that he still holds fond memories of the U.S. President, saying, “Personally, I still have good memories of Trump.”
The demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal has long been a major point of contention between the two nations, with the United Nations imposing successive rounds of sanctions on Pyongyang over its banned weapons programs.
Kim asserted that these sanctions have helped North Korea “strengthen its power and build endurance and resistance that cannot be crushed by any pressure.”
In August, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his desire to meet with Kim Jong Un again this year, also indicating openness to continuing trade talks with South Korea.
The first summit between Trump and Kim took place in Singapore in 2018 and resulted in a preliminary agreement on denuclearization. However, the second summit in Hanoi in 2019 collapsed due to disagreements over sanctions. A third meeting was held in the Korean village of Panmunjom in June 2019.
Trump is expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the city of Gyeongju.