North Korea says Kim-Trump ties 'not bad', rejects denuclearisation talks

Seoul, July 29 The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Tuesday that personal ties between the leaders of the North and the United States are "not bad," while ruling out talks on Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling party's Central Committee, made the remarks as US President Donald Trump has expressed his intent to reengage with the North's leader.

"I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad," Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearisation, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party," she said.

DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Her remarks came days after a White House official told Yonhap News Agency that Trump remains open to engagement with the North Korean leader to achieve a "fully denuclearised" North Korea.

Expectations have persisted that Trump might seek to resume his diplomacy with Kim, which led to three in-person meetings between them, including the first summit in Singapore in 2018. But the Hanoi summit in 2019 ended without a deal due to differences over the North's denuclearisation steps in return for sanctions relief, Yonhap News Agency reported.

While mentioning the official's remarks that she called the US side's "unilateral assessment," Kim Yo-jong stressed, "The year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019," and called for recognising her country as a nuclear state.

"Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state ... will be thoroughly rejected," she said. "There should be a minimum judgment to admit that it is by no means beneficial to each other for the two countries possessing nuclear weapons to go in a confrontational direction.

She also urged the US to seek another way of approaching North Korea based on "new thinking."

In response to Kim's statement, South Korea's unification ministry reaffirmed Seoul's support for the resumption of North Korea-US dialogue aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

"Both South Korea and the US maintain a consistent position that they are open to dialogue with North Korea to build peace on the Korean Peninsula and peacefully resolve North Korean nuclear issues," a ministry official said.

"We proactively support the resumption of North Korea-US talks for peace on the peninsula and stability in Northeast Asia," the official said, pledging continued efforts toward the talks.

Experts said North Korea reaffirmed its stance that it will not sit down for Pyongyang's denuclearisation but appears to have left open room for talks with the US on other topics.

Kim's remarks came just a day after she issued another statement via the KCNA claiming Pyongyang will not sit down with Seoul for dialogue and condemning it for "blindly adhering" to the South Korea-US alliance.

The messages came as North Korea is aligning closely with Russia in defence, the economy and other areas amid the Russia-Ukraine war, making it easier for Pyongyang to circumvent international sanctions by relying on Russia for much-needed resources.

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