Kim Jong-un sets conditions after Trump suggests third summit
North Korean leader says US needs to ‘stop its current way of calculation’ if there is to be a third meeting
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| DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AP. |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he is interested in meeting Donald Trump again only if the US comes with the right attitude, the regime’s state media said on Saturday, after the US president earlier floated the idea.
Kim said the breakdown in talks with the US had raised the risks of returning to past tensions, and that he would wait “until the end of this year” for the US to decide, according to state news agency KCNA.
“What is needed is for the US to stop its current way of calculation, and come to us with a new calculation,” Kim said in a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly on Friday, KCNA said.
Kim said his personal relationship with Trump is still good, but that he had no interest in a third summit if it is a repeat of Hanoi.
“The US said recently that it is thinking again of a third DPRK-US summit and have been strongly implying problem-solving through dialogue,” Kim continued. “But they continue to ignore the basic way of the new DPRK-US relations, including withdrawing hostile policies, and mistakenly believe that if they pressure us to the maximum, they can subdue us.”
At a summit with South Korean president Moon in Washington on Thursday, Trump expressed a willingness to hold a third summit with Kim but said Washington would leave sanctions in place on Pyongyang.
Last month, a senior North Korean official warned that Kim might rethink a moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests in place since 2017 unless Washington makes concessions such as easing sanctions.
