North Korean Leader’s Sister Casts Doubt on Future of Nuclear Talks
Another nuclear summit between North Korea and the U.S. would be “unprofitable” unless Washington changes its negotiating stance, said Kim Yo Jong, sister of the regime’s leader, in her latest display of public politicking.
In a lengthy statement published Friday by North Korean state media, Ms. Kim said she doubts a summit between the two countries would happen “this year and beyond,” calling another high-profile meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Trump unnecessary.
Ms. Kim’s remarks, which mentioned but didn’t directly criticize Mr. Trump, underlined the country’s message to the U.S. this year: Drop hostilities toward the North and bring a new approach to talks. Until then, diplomacy is all but done.
“It would be easier and more favorable for the U.S. to rack its brains to make our nukes no threat to the U.S., rather than racking it to dispossess our nukes,” said Ms. Kim, 32, a confidante of her brother. The comment came in an English version of the state-media report.
President Trump said Tuesday in an interview with Gray Television that he would meet with North Korea again “if I thought it was going to be helpful.” The U.S. envoy to North Korea, on a visit to Seoul, reiterated openness to restarting talks. And on Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signaled that Washington was hopeful about continuing dialogue, adding that the U.S. had tried to “convince the North Koreans to make the fundamental shift” about their weapons program.
The two countries have each called for a change from the other side, ever since they failed to reach a deal at last year’s U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi.
Even if the two leaders were to meet again, Ms. Kim said Friday, “it is too obvious that it will only be used as boring boasting coming from someone’s pride.” She added the U.S. “may still worry” about a still-undelivered “Christmas present” before November’s election, a reference to a threat the North made late last year.
The fiery state-media remarks, a hallmark of North Korea’s foreign-policy tactics, came with some restraint and nods toward diplomacy. Ms. Kim noted the warm relationship between her brother and Mr. Trump. She didn’t rule out the possibility of denuclearization but said “it is not possible at this point of time.” She even lamented having to speak in such a manner.
“I personally did not want to write this kind of statement towards Americans,” Ms. Kim said.
Ms. Kim, deputy director of the North’s propaganda and agitation department, has recently established a bigger voice in the regime’s affairs. She has been a force in inter-Korean relations since Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry was left in charge of diplomacy with the U.S. after the Hanoi summit. Last month, she threatened to pull out of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement where the two sides agreed to tone down military tensions. On June 16, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office after Ms. Kim warned of a “tragic scene” at the jointly run facility.
But days later, a security body overseen by Mr. Kim suspended further military plans directed at South Korea. Meanwhile, Pyongyang officials, though not Ms. Kim, continued to announce they weren’t interested in sitting down with the U.S. for another meeting.
Ms. Kim’s statement Friday is an indirect response to remarks by President Trump on Tuesday and more generally, analysts said. She is speaking for Mr. Kim while seeking to discredit the stubborn stance of Washington officials in hopes of negotiating directly with Mr. Trump, they said.
“When Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry puts out a statement, the State Department is likely to respond. To negotiate directly with President Trump, Kim Jong Un is putting his sister forward as his stand-in in responding to the U.S.,” said Park Hyeong-jung, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded think tank in Seoul.
A breakthrough in talks is unlikely this year, analysts say, as Mr. Trump’s reelection remains in doubt and both sides continue to expect the other to take action first. The two sides hold differing views on how to relinquish Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal. The Trump administration has called for the Kim regime to agree to specifics before sanctions relief, while Pyongyang has urged a step-by-step process in which the U.S. removes some penalties.
“The U.S. says the door is open for dialogue but they will not change their basic stance on denuclearization, and North Korea will now be thinking about how to play it with the next president,” Mr. Park said.
Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at left, with his sister and confidante Kim Yo Jong. - PHOTO: POOL NEW/REUTERS
