SEOUL, Oct 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US
President Donald Trump have a “special” relationship, a top Pyongyang
official said Thursday, echoing remarks this week by the American head of
state.
Analysts said the comments were an indication Pyongyang still hoped to
reach a deal directly with Trump over its nuclear programmes, despite
Washington’s longstanding insistence it give up its weapons before sanctions
are lifted.
In a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official news agency KCNA, foreign
ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan said he had met the North Korean leader “a few
days ago”, and “he said that the relationship between him and President Trump
is special”.
The report came just days after Trump said of Kim: “I like him. He likes
me. We get along. I respect him. He respects me.”
Analysts say the North is looking to exploit the relationship between Kim
and Trump — a former real estate mogul who sees himself as a master
negotiator — to secure US concessions in nuclear talks.
It has previously praised Trump’s “extraordinary courage” while repeatedly
demanding Washington come forward with a “new method” by the end of this
year.
Pyongyang understands US officials will oppose the lifting of sanctions
before denuclearisation and therefore it wants to “negotiate directly with
Trump”, Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk
University in Seoul, told AFP.
“The North is sending a message that unless Trump makes the call, the talks
will fall through and that they are now at a crossroads,” he said.
Adviser Kim told KCNA that Washington policymakers were hostile to
Pyongyang and “preoccupied with the Cold War mentality and ideological
prejudice”.
“I sincerely hope that a motive force to overcome all the obstacles… will
be provided on the basis of the close relationship,” he added.
After trading threats of war and insults in 2017, the two leaders held a
high-profile summit in Singapore last year, with Kim signing a vague pledge
to work towards “denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.
But negotiations stalled after an unsuccessful second summit in Hanoi in
February, and earlier this month the North broke off the latest round of
working-level talks in Sweden.