If President-elect Trump hopes for another handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he best tone down his expectations. "We have already gone as far as possible with the United States with negotiations," Kim said at a defense exhibition in Pyongyang on Thursday, per the AP. "What we ended up confirming was not a superpower's will for coexistence, but a thorough position based on force and an unchangeable invasive and hostile policy" toward North Korea. Kim did not directly address the re-election of Trump, but his first public comments about the US since the election signal a tough stance, suggests an analysis in the Wall Street Journal.
Trump once claimed he and Kim "fell in love." "I think he misses me," he added of the North Korean leader in July, claiming he was the best candidate to control the regime. But since Trump left office in early 2021, North Korea "has expanded its nuclear arsenal, warded off economic collapse from Covid-19 and deepened military and economic ties with Moscow, including deploying troops for Russia's war against Ukraine," per the Journal. As a result, "Kim has fewer reasons to seek sanctions relief from the US and has repeatedly played down the need for disarmament talks."
At a conference with army officials last week, Kim vowed to increase his country's nuclear capabilities "without limit," adding "the most important and critical task for our armed forces is preparations for a war." As Evans Revere, former acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, tells Voice of America, "Kim Jong Un is making clear to President-elect Trump that everything has changed since their previous meetings" and North Korea "will not give up" its nuclear weapons. Trump may have anticipated this, the Journal reports, noting "Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for Secretary of State, has previously compared North Korea to a 'criminal syndicate.'" (More North Korea stories.)
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