송상호
| 2025-09-23 04:05:40
(News Focus) Trump-Kim-diplomacy
(News Focus) Kim's remarks on Trump augur well for dialogue, but denuclearization goal in question
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's show of openness to conditional engagement with the United States renewed hopes for the resumption of summitry between U.S. President Donald Trump and him, but questions remain over whether their diplomacy, if rekindled, could help address Pyongyang's nuclear quandary.
During a key parliamentary meeting over the weekend, Kim indicated his willingness to engage in dialogue with the U.S. if it drops its demand for the North's denuclearization, while noting that he personally has a "good memory" of Trump, the Korean Central News Agency said, in a rare public mention of the American president.
Kim's remarks came as Trump plans to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit set to take place in South Korea's southeastern city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Trump has voiced his hope to meet with Kim this year amid his perceived campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize.
"I think there's rhetorical posturing going on in all three capitals (Seoul, Washington and Pyongyang), and that an engagement between Trump and Kim remains on track and very likely at or around the time of the APEC summit," Rob Rapson, former acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said.
"If not then, perhaps early next year at the time of a possible Trump visit to Beijing," he added.
Andrew Yeo, SK-Korea Foundation chair at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies, said that Kim's remarks to the North's parliament were the "clearest and most direct signal" that the recalcitrant leader is willing to meet Trump.
"The two could briefly meet again at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when Trump visits Seoul for APEC, but not for substantive talks," he said.
During his first term, Trump's personal diplomacy toward Kim led to three bilateral meetings -- the first summit in Singapore in June 2018, the second summit in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third encounter at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ in June 2019.
The Singapore summit, in particular, was seen as a landmark because the two countries' summit statement included the North's commitment to working toward the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula and a bilateral agreement to work together to build new relations between the two nations.
The second Trump administration remains committed to the principles outlined in the 2018 summit statement, according to Seth Bailey, acting deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
But it remains uncertain whether Trump can lead Kim to stay committed to the denuclearization commitment at a time when Kim has ruled out bargaining away the North's nuclear program, calling on Washington to accept the reality of Pyongyang's nuclear program that has advanced since the last Trump-Kim summit more than six years ago.
In particular, Trump's summitry with Kim, if rekindled, would come as Pyongyang has much less appetite for dialogue with Washington because it has relied on Russia for food, fuel, military technology and other forms of aid while international sanctions enforcement has loosened.
"How closely a Trump-Kim agenda will be tethered to 'denuclearization' remains to be seen, but I believe there will be much less adherence to U.S. policy orthodoxy than in the past, including the approach taken during Trump 1.0," Rapson said.
But the former diplomat added that nuclear diplomacy with the North is "unfinished business" for Trump and represents "his next best venture to help secure a Nobel Prize."
Yeo said that should dialogue between Trump and Kim materialize, Trump might focus on risk mitigation rather than highlighting the denuclearization topic, though the Trump administration has repeatedly stated its commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea.
"A meeting could help reopen U.S.-DPRK diplomatic channels but Trump may have to focus on risk reduction and downplay denuclearization," he said. DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He added, "The real question is what Trump will offer Kim, if anything. The U.S. should not give up on denuclearization but make that part of a long-term goal, even if it's largely aspirational at the moment."
Amid the growing expectation for the restart of diplomacy between Trump and Kim, analysts noted the need for South Korea to ensure a role in any efforts for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula at a time when Seoul has a limited source of leverage to reengage with Pyongyang.
"The ROK's prospects for its own engagement with Pyongyang in the short term will largely derive from the Trump-Kim bilateral (engagement) and whatever role Trump sees for Seoul in that process," Rapson said. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
"That behooves the Lee administration to work extra hard to ensure a role that comports with its policies and longer-term vision for the North."
Patrick Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific security at the Hudson Institute, raised the possibility of Trump agreeing with Kim to focus on a peace agreement to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice.
"This could leave South Korea to cope with a growing nuclear threat and shoulder greater costs and burdens," he said.
Kim's parliamentary speech reaffirmed Pyongyang's hard-line stance on Seoul, rejecting inter-Korean dialogue and the idea of reunification, as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung seeks to mend cross-border relations and resume diplomacy with the northern neighbor.
Yeo, however, called attention to a thaw in inter-Korean ties in 2018 following a rise in tensions.
"KJU shunned the Lee government," Yeo said, referring to the North Korean leader.
"But KJU also treated the ROK and (former) President Moon Jae-in the same way in 2017 before inter-Korea relations improved in 2018 resulting in Moon's visit to Pyongyang. It's very possible KJU may engage Lee, but it may be contingent on if and how a Trump-Kim meeting transpires."
In response to Kim's parliamentary speech, South Korea's presidential office said that Seoul would support dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, and reaffirmed that it will continue efforts for a "nuclear free" Korean Peninsula.
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]