North Korean leader recalls 'good memories' of Trump, urges US to drop
denuclearization demands
[September 22, 2025]
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he still
has good memories of U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to
drop its demand the North surrender its nukes as a precondition for
resuming long-stalled diplomacy.
Speaking to Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday, Kim stressed
that he has no intention of ever resuming dialogue with rival South
Korea, a key U.S. ally that helped broker Kim’s previous summits with
Trump during the American president’s first term, according to a speech
published by state media on Monday.
Kim suspended virtually all cooperation with the South following the
collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over disagreements
about U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Tensions on the Korean
Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his
weapons buildup and aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Kim’s comments came as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for
New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to
address nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and call on North Korea
to return to talks.
Trump is also expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, prompting media speculation
that he may try to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border, as they did
during their third meeting in 2019, which ultimately failed to salvage
their nuclear diplomacy.
During his latest speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim
reiterated that he would never give up his nuclear weapons program,
which experts say he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival and the
extension of his family’s dynastic rule.
“The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing
other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm,” Kim said.
“We will never lay down our nuclear weapons … There will be no
negotiations, now or ever, about trading anything with hostile countries
in exchange for lifting sanctions.”
He said he still holds “good personal memories” of Trump from their
first meetings and that there is “no reason not to” resume talks with
the United States if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with
denuclearization.”
[to top of second column]
|
This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a parliament session at the
Supreme People’s Assembly, which was held on Sept. 20-21, 2025 in
Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given
access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the
North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided
and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on
image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation
for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea
News Service via AP)
Kim has stepped up testing activities in recent years, demonstrating
weapons of various ranges designed to strike U.S. allies in Asia and
the U.S. mainland. Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at
eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as
a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions
from a position of strength.
Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening
cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging
partnership aimed at undercutting U.S. influence.
He has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of military
equipment to Russia to help support President Vladimir Putin’s war
in Ukraine. He visited Beijing earlier this month, sharing the
spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive
military parade. Experts say Kim’s rare foreign trip was likely
intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of
talks with the United States.
There’s growing concern in Seoul that it could lose its voice in
future efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff on the peninsula, as
the North seeks to negotiate directly with the United States. Such
fears were amplified last year when Kim declared that he was
abandoning North Korea’s long-standing goal of peaceful unification
with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of the North’s constitution
to cement the South as a permanent enemy.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
