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| 2025-09-22 11:16:32
(News Focus) Kim-Trump-talks
(News Focus) Kim's remarks on 'good memory' of Trump up expectations for talks around APEC gathering
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's remarks on having a "good memory" of U.S. President Donald Trump has rekindled expectations over their possible reunion for talks as Trump is set to visit South Korea next month for a major multilateral event.
Kim made the remarks during his speech at a key parliamentary meeting held over the weekend, saying there is no reason for the North not to have dialogue with the United States should Washington drop its call for Pyongyang's denuclearization.
"If the U.S. drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization 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 U.S.," Kim said.
"Personally, I still have a good memory of U.S. President Trump," he added.
While Trump has appeared keen on resuming summitry with Kim since his return to the White House this year, mentioning his "great relationship" with the North Korean leader, it marked the first time Kim has voiced his intent for such a meeting.
Trump and Kim met twice for summits -- in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019 -- followed by a brief encounter in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019. No further meeting has taken place since the Hanoi summit ended without a deal.
While Kim is unlikely to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, set for Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, expectations have grown that the two leaders may meet on the occasion of the event -- either at Panmunjom or another location.
But experts said it remains to be seen whether Trump will accept Pyongyang's insistence on nuclear arms.
Trump has described North Korea as a "nuclear power," in what appeared to be an acknowledgement of the reality of the North's nuclear arm possession, while his administration has officially adhered to its policy of seeking Pyongyang's denuclearization.
In the parliamentary speech, Kim made it clear that his country will never give up nuclear weapons.
"I affirm that there will never, never be denuclearization for us," Kim said, highlighting that its "irreversible" status as a nuclear power has been enshrined in the constitution.
"There will never be such negotiations with the enemies as trading something while being obsessed with sanctions relief," Kim said, ruling out denuclearization talks for possible dialogue with the U.S.
Analysts said the resumption of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang will likely hinge on Trump's decision.
"A meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. will likely depend on whether Trump will make a decision," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said.
"But unless North Korea's stance on insisting nuclear arms does not change, a fundamental resolution will not likely come easily," Lim said.
Some, meanwhile, raised the possibility of the U.S. and South Korea first pursuing a more flexible approach and setting realistic goals for denuclearization.
In an interview with Britain's BBC, President Lee Jae Myung said his government would accept a deal between Trump and Kim to freeze production of the North's nuclear weapons for now, rather than get rid of them, as an "interim emergency measure."
"The question is whether we persist with fruitless attempts towards the ultimate goal [of denuclearization or we set more realistic goals and achieve some of them," Lee said.
(END)
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