Senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected tells Reuters North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected and is working on a new negotiating strategy.
Aug 1, 2024, 6:53 AM (GMT+3)
North KoreaDonald TrumpNorth Korea-USKim Jong Un
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Kim Jong Un and Donald TrumpReuters
North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters on Wednesday.
The diplomat, Ri Il Gyu, told Reuters that North Korea has set Russia, the US and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.
While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump – who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term – won re-election in November, Ri said.
Pyongyang’s diplomats were mapping out a strategy for that scenario, with the goal of lifting of sanctions on its weapons programmes, removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and eliciting economic aid, said Ri.
Trump tried to reach a denuclearization agreement with North Korea while in office. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump met three times, the last time being in Hanoi in 2019 for a summit, but made little progress towards denuclearization.
The Biden administration reached out to North Korea shortly after taking office, but the country did not respond to those overtures.
In Biden’s first policy speech to Congress, he said nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran posed threats that would be addressed through “diplomacy and stern deterrence”.
Ri told Reuters on Wednesday that the 2019 summit between Kim and Trump collapsed partially over Kim’s decision to entrust “inexperienced, clueless” military commanders with nuclear diplomacy.
“Kim Jong Un doesn’t know much about international relations and diplomacy, or how to make strategic judgment,” he said.
“This time, the foreign ministry would definitely gain power and take charge, and it won’t be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea’s hands and feet again for four years without giving anything.”