North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has responded positively to a recent overture by US President Donald Trump, even as analysts say the prospects for another summit between the two leaders remain slim due to their wide differences over denuclearisation.
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Kim said he could meet Trump again, provided the US were to drop its insistence on North Korea’s denuclearisation, noting he had “good memory” of Trump, according to Pyongyang’s state media.
The comments by Kim followed a statement by Trump at his summit with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Washington last month, in which he expressed his hope to meet the North Korean leader later this year.
“If the US drops its hollow obsession with denuclearisation and wants to pursue peaceful coexistence with North Korea based on the recognition of reality, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the US,” Kim said.
“Personally, I still have a good memory of US President Trump,” he added at a key parliamentary meeting over the weekend, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
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Kim reiterated that North Korea would never abandon its nuclear arsenal, rejecting the notion of using it as a bargaining chip.