It appears that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not interested in reviving his relationship with Donald Trump this time.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Kim is hesitant to restart talks with the United States during Trump’s second term, expressing skepticism during a speech Thursday about what could be accomplished.
“We have already explored every possible avenue in negotiating with the U.S.,” Kim reportedly stated at a Pyongyang defense exhibition. He also stated that America’s “unchanging aggressive and hostile policy” toward North Korea is clear.
Kim also said that the U.S. is a superpower that would rather use force than live together peacefully. He said that the talks that happened before the Trump administration did not go anywhere.
The Journal also says that North Korea does not need sanctions relief as much as it did during Trump’s presidency because it has built up its nuclear arsenal and gotten closer to Russia on both an economic and military level.
Kim just is not that into Trump these days. He does not want to disarm much, and he passed a law that lets the country launch nuclear attacks before they happen.
Some things that Trump can not give Kim are military technology and diplomatic protection at the UN Security Council from Vladimir Putin.
But Trump and Putin are also disturbingly close, which means that the president-elect may still be able to work toward better relations with North Korea.
For those who may have forgotten, Trump’s first-term talks with Kim started with “love letters” but quickly turned nasty and violent. Trump still thinks back on those early days and told Kim at the July Republican National Convention, “I think he misses me.”
But Kim does not seem to have the same happy memories as Trump. This means that there probably will not be any new talks unless Trump can persuade Putin to help and Kim agrees.
But that does not make sense since North Korea called Trump a “dotard” and a “heedless and erratic man” during the last attempt.
