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| Kim Jong Un delivers major policy speech in Pyongyang. |
In a major speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his country will never give up its nuclear weapons but signaled he is ready for talks with the United States if it abandons its demand for denuclearization . The comments, which included a personal note about having "fond memories" of former U.S. President Donald Trump, open a narrow window for potential diplomacy amid stalled relations .
Kim made the remarks on Sunday in an address to North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, the country's rubber-stamp parliament . State media released the details on Monday.
"If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearizing us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States," Kim was quoted as saying . He framed nuclear weapons as a matter of survival for his regime, pointing to military drills conducted by the United States and South Korea as evidence of grave threats .
The North Korean leader paired his firm stance on nuclear weapons with a direct reference to Trump, who he met three times during Trump's first term. "Personally, I still have fond memories of U.S. President Trump," Kim said, according to a report from the Reuters news agency . Those high-profile meetings from 2018 to 2019 ultimately collapsed without an agreement to curb North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief .
Analysts view Kim's speech as a clear overture to Trump, who is currently campaigning to return to the White House . "This is Kim's invitation to Trump to rethink U.S. policy on denuclearization," said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a North Korea expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center. She added that the warm words toward Trump seem designed to sideline South Korea's current government by suggesting direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington are the only viable path .
The speech comes as South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, advocates for a fresh approach to engagement with the North. President Lee told news agencies that the long-standing policy of sanctions and pressure has failed to stop North Korea's weapons development . He proposed a more realistic, phased plan that would start with a freeze on North Korea's production of nuclear weapons, which he estimates is growing by 15 to 20 bombs each year .
"Based on that, we can proceed to medium-term negotiations for nuclear weapons reductions, and in the long run, once mutual trust is restored and North Korea’s regime-security concerns are reduced, we can pursue denuclearization," Lee explained . However, Kim bluntly rejected any such step-by-step proposal, calling it proof that Seoul and Washington ultimately want to weaken his government .
The history of nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea is marked by broken agreements and deepening distrust . The 1994 Agreed Framework, which froze North Korea’s plutonium production for a time, broke down after the U.S. confronted North Korea about a secret uranium enrichment program in 2002 . Multilateral Six-Party Talks also later collapsed . Kim invoked this history of failed diplomacy, stating, "The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms" .
Data analysis shows that periods of active diplomacy have historically correlated with a reduction in North Korean missile tests and other military provocations . However, negotiations have hit historic lows since Kim Jong Un took power, even as the country's nuclear capabilities have advanced significantly .
For now, Kim's offer leaves the ball in Washington's court. But his conditions—that the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear state—represent a fundamental shift from the goal of denuclearization that has been a cornerstone of American policy for decades . The path forward depends heavily on the outcome of the next U.S. presidential election and whether a future administration is willing to engage on Kim's terms .