Nuclear: Inflexible North Korea despite links with Trump

The relationship between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump is “not bad”, but any attempt to denuclearize North Korea “will be firmly rejected,” warned the influential sister of the North Korean leader on Tuesday. The “personal relationship” between Kim and Trump is “not bad”, but should in no case be used “for the purpose of a denuclearization” of the country during any potential dialogue, warned Kim Yo-Jong in a press release relayed by the official agency KCNA.

“Any attempt to oppose the position of the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (DRPC) as a state with nuclear weapons (…) will be firmly rejected,” thundered Kim Jong-un’s sister, using the official name of North Korea. US President Donald Trump and Kim met three times during the Republican’s first mandate to try to tear an agreement to abandon atomic weapons by Pyongyang.

But the two men did not manage to agree on what North Korea would obtain in return and their second summit, in Hanoi in 2019, ended in a failure, Pyongyang then accelerating its nuclear program. Trump, back to the White House since January, has praised his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong-un, leaving to think about a possible resumption of discussions.

“Not long ago, an official of the White House said (…) that he (Trump) was still open to dialogue with the leader of the RPDC to reach the country’s full denuclearization,” added Kim Yo-Jong, seeming to refer to remarks cited by the South Korean agency Yonhap.

Take advantage of the “not bad” agreement between Kim and Trump “could be interpreted as nothing other than no mockery of the other party,” she said, calling on Washington to recognize her country as “a state with nuclear weapons”.