It seems that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not interested in renewing his relationship with Donald Trump at this time.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Kim is not interested in reviving talks with the United States during Trump’s second term, casting doubt on talks with China about what could be done.
“We have already explored all avenues of communication with the US,” Kim is reported to have said at a Pyongyang defense meeting. He added that “America’s consistent policies of aggression and brutality” toward North Korea are clear.
Kim also called the US a major power that decides on the use of force to exist, saying that the negotiations that have taken place during the Trump administration have led nowhere. Also, that Journal reports that North Korea has no greater need for sanctions than it did in the Trump years, has increased its nuclear arsenal and strengthened economic and military ties with Russia.
Today, Kim is no longer the Trump. He has little desire for disarmament and has passed legislation allowing countries to carry out nuclear attacks. Vladimir Putin is offering Kim things that Trump cannot: military technology and the protection of a representative on the United Nations Security Council.
But Trump and Putin also have a dangerously close relationship, meaning there is still room for the president-elect to forge better relations with North Korea. Lest we forget, Trump’s talks with Kim during his first term began with “love letters“ before we break down and go inside insults and threats. Trump though it reminds about those early days and, referring to Kim, he said, “I think he misses me” at the July Republican National Convention.
It doesn’t appear that Kim has the same fond memory as Trump, however, making new talks unlikely unless the president-elect persuades Putin to move things along and Kim comes up with an idea. But that seems unlikely when the latest effort resulted in North Korea calling Trump a “dotard” and “a disobedient and crazy man.”