President Donald J. Trump has said he will reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, raising the possibility of a flare-up. their bromance diplomacy Five years after the first round of talks, it has attracted global attention but has done little to reduce Mr Kim's growing nuclear threat.
“He liked me and I got along with him,” Mr Trump said during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after saying he would reconnect with Mr Kim in his second term. “He is not religious. He happens to be a smart man.”
Mr Trump's comments on Thursday night were the first since he took office on Monday that he has signaled his intention to reopen diplomacy with Mr Kim. During their first term in office, Mr Trump and Mr Kim made history by holding the first summit between their countries, which are technically at war. But their relationship soured after three high-level meetings failed to produce any progress.
It is unclear whether Mr. Kim, emboldened by a stronger alliance with Russia and his own country's military advances, will respond to the offers this time. Analysts say North Korea's missile capabilities have expanded since Mr. Trump last met with Mr. Kim five years ago, and he may demand a bigger price for concessions on his nuclear program.
During the campaign, Mr Trump expressed his interest in the North Korean leader, saying at one point that “when somebody has a lot of nuclear weapons, it's nice to make peace”. Hours after his inauguration, he also told reporters that Mr. Kim was a “nuclear power,” in contrast to Washington's long-standing refusal to recognize North Korea.
Officials in South Korea, an ally of the United States, suppressed it internal political crisis After the impeachment of its leader, there have been fears that Mr Trump's return could put the Korean peninsula back on a diplomatic journey.
During their first term in office, Mr Trump and Mr Kim initially exchanged personal insults and threats of nuclear war. They then shook hands and held three meetings between 2018 and 2019. At one point, Mr Trump declared on social media that he was “no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea” and that he was “in love” with Mr Kim.
But those talks ended without an agreement on how North Korea would roll back its nuclear and ballistic missile programs or when the United States would ease sanctions on the country. Mr. Kim has vowed not to engage Washington again in dialogue and has redoubled the development and testing of nuclear-tipped missiles.
Now, South Korean analysts and officials fear that Mr. Trump could strike a deal with Mr. Kim in which North Korea would give up its long-range missiles, but not all its nuclear weapons, in exchange for sanctions relief.
Mr. Trump's recent statement describing North Korea as a nuclear state contradicts a long-standing agreement between Washington and Seoul that North Korea should never be recognized as such.
“We cannot give North Korea the status of a nuclear power,” South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement after Mr. Trump's comments.
Despite Mr Trump's flattering comments about Mr Kim, it was not clear whether the dictator would warm to the idea of a new acquaintance. After the collapse of the first round of talks, Mr Kim has championed a new “multipolar” global order, signed a mutual defense pact with Moscow last year and sent weapons and about 12,000 troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia despite suffering heavy losses in the war against Ukraine, South Korea's military said on Friday.
China has long been the only major buffer between North Korea and international efforts to curb its American-led regime's military ambitions. In exchange for helping Russia in the war against Ukraine, Mr Kim has enlisted Moscow as another key ally to protect his country from US pressure.
North Korea had not commented on Mr Trump's election or inauguration until Wednesday, when state media released a two-sentence report.
However, the regime fired missiles at the east coast just days before the inauguration. South Korea's military says it is preparing to launch more missiles, including long-range ballistic missiles powerful enough to reach the continental United States, much to the chagrin of American defense officials.
North Korea's state media said on Friday that the country's parliament passed budgets for the year this week that “will ensure the acceleration of a significant change in national defense capabilities.”
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute of National Unification in Seoul, said Mr. Kim would likely react to Mr. Trump's proposal before the Workers' Party meeting in June or another parliamentary meeting in September.
“He will react after gauging the seriousness, intent and calculations behind the Trump administration's approach to North Korea,” Mr. Hong said.