In a New Year’s address on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is eager to renew face-to-face negotiations with…
In a New Year’s address on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is eager to renew face-to-face negotiations with President Trump after a bilateral summit in June, but suggested that he could ramp up nuclear weapons development if the U. S. does not end economic sanctions against Pyongyang.
In the speech broadcast on state television, Kim said he is ready to meet Trump at any time to forge an agreement “welcomed by the international community.”
However, if the U. S. did not “keep its promise made in front of the whole world” and instead “insists on sanctions and pressures” on North Korea, “we may be left with no choice but to consider a new way to safeguard our sovereignty and interests.”
After months of bitter acrimony and public name-calling between the two leaders, Trump and Kim met in Singapore in June. At the summit, the president hailed a new beginning in U. S.-North Korea relations and an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Since then, the North has halted nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
