North Korea Open to US Talks If Denuclearisation Demand Is Dropped: Kim

Kim says building nuclear weapons is a matter of Pyongyang's survival

Mon Sep 22 2025
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SEOUL, North Korea:  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has stated that he is open to renewed dialogue with the United States—provided Washington drops its demand for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, but insisted the arsenal will never be traded for sanctions relief.

Kim made it clear that he will never trade away the country’s nuclear arsenal in exchange for relief from sanctions, according to state media reports on Monday.

Speaking at a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim said, “Personally, I still have fond memories of US President Trump,” referencing the three meetings the two leaders held during Trump’s first term in office, as reported by KCNA.

Kim’s remarks come as the liberal administration in South Korea pushes for former President Trump to re-engage with Pyongyang, six years after denuclearisation talks collapsed due to disputes over sanctions relief and nuclear disarmament.

“If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us, accepts reality, and truly seeks peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with them,” Kim was quoted as saying.

He argued that North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is a matter of national survival, intended to protect the country from what he described as serious threats from the US and South Korea. Kim cited ongoing joint military exercises between the two allies, which he claimed have evolved into rehearsals for nuclear war.

Kim also dismissed recent diplomatic overtures from Washington and Seoul as insincere, claiming that their ultimate goal remains the destabilisation and destruction of his regime. He criticised a phased denuclearisation proposal from South Korea, saying it served as further evidence of their true intentions.

“The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms,” Kim said. “We will never give up our nuclear weapons.”

“There will never be, and will never ever be for eternity, any negotiations with enemies of exchanging some things out of some obsession with lifting sanctions.”

Sanctions have been “a learning experience” and made his country stronger and more resilient, he said.

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