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President Trump intends to turn his focus to North Korea’s nuclear program now that he has a deal with Iran, according to South Korea’s president.
Getting into it: Lee Jae Myung said Trump told him at a G7 dinner in France that “the time had come to pay attention to the North Korea issue,” and seemed eager to resume talks with Kim Jong Un but unsure how to proceed. Days earlier, shortly after announcing the Iran deal, Trump had posted an uncaptioned photo of himself and Kim from their 2018 Singapore summit, which he told Lee he had uploaded himself.
Lee said he urged Trump to take a step-by-step approach, arguing that pressure alone has failed, noting Pyongyang already has a sizable arsenal and can produce enough material for 10 to 20 weapons a year. He also said that deepening North Korea-Russia cooperation over the Ukraine war has weakened US sanctions on the North, telling Trump that “even a small amount of assistance from Russia is of great help.”
This all comes as Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo-Jong, criticized the G7’s renewed call for North Korea’s complete denuclearization, calling the country’s nuclear status permanent and off the table. In a statement carried by state media, she brushed off the demand as outdated and out of touch with reality, arguing the matter was already settled.
She also said North Korea’s weapons were a defensive deterrent built against what Pyongyang sees as persistent threats from hostile states, calling it a safeguard for the country’s sovereignty rather than a destabilizing force, and a permanent, non-negotiable pillar of its national security.
Notably, Trump sat down with Kim three times in his first term and said that the two were “in love.” Despite that, a 2019 Hanoi summit collapsed and no deal followed. North Korea has only dug in since then, insisting its nuclear status is permanent.
