North Korea’s Kim Jong-un rejects denuclearization but open to talks with Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reiterated that he has “no intention to unify with a country that has entrusted its politics and defense to a foreign force,” emphasizing that the Lee Jae Myung administration has failed to bring substantial change to South Korea’s policies.

Kim made the remarks during his speech at a key parliamentary meeting held on September 20 and 21, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on September 22.

Kim called South Korea “a semi-paralyzed, deformed colonial subordinate that has been completely Americanized in all sectors,” and described it as “an entirely foreign country.”

“Just as water and fire cannot merge, there is no way independent politics can be reconciled with sycophantic, treasonous politics, or socialist culture with Yankee culture,” Kim said.

He went on to say that unification between two entities that are not only fundamentally different but diametrically opposed would only be possible if one side were to disappear, adding, “Unification is absolutely unnecessary.”

“To talk about unification with such a hostile country is nothing more than an expression of obsession and stubbornness,” he said. “No matter how insistently they pursue it, it will not change reality.”

Kim also rejected President Lee’s three-stage denuclearization plan for North Korea, saying the idea was merely a “copy” of his predecessors’ proposals.

“The newly inaugurated government in South Korea is claiming a ‘policy of engagement’ for ‘peace’ and ‘improving relations’ with us in an attempt to differentiate itself from previous administrations, but in essence, nothing has changed,” said Kim. “When it comes to the ambition for ‘unification by absorption,’ it surpasses even the previous vicious conservative regimes that made anti-North Korea policies a national priority.”

Lee has said he will pursue a three-stage denuclearization plan for North Korea, starting from a freeze on the North’s nuclear and missile programs in the first stage.

In December 2023, Kim defined inter-Korean ties as those between “two states hostile to each other” and vowed not to seek reconciliation and unification with the South.

However, Kim said there is no reason for the North not to have dialogue with the United States if Washington drops its demand for the North’s denuclearization, saying he has a “good memory” of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump expressed hope to meet with the North’s leader this year during his summit with President Lee Jae Myung in August.

The North’s leader made it clear that his country will never give up nuclear arms but said the North could sit down with the United States if Washington does not demand denuclearization as a condition for talks.

“Personally, I still have a good memory of U.S. President Trump,” he added.

But Kim also stressed the North has no will to give up nuclear weapons, saying that they will not be a bargaining chip.

“The world already knows well what the United States does after it forces disarmament and denuclearization,” he said. “We will never put down our nuclear arms. There will never be negotiations in which we trade something for the lifting of sanctions. Not now, not ever.”

“If the Western hegemonic forces, led by the United States, continue to delude themselves into thinking they can impose a strategic defeat on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea[North Korea], which still possesses nuclear weapons, and believe they can pressure and break us with sanctions or shows of force, they are gravely mistaken,” Kim said.

BY YOON SO-YEON, YONHAP [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]