Kim says he is open to nuclear negotiations with the US and speaks of 'good memories' of Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suggested he would be open to nuclear negotiations with the United States , as South Korea 's president indicated he would welcome a potential deal between the two nations—as long as Seoul can maintain its own nuclear weapons. Kim's statement came during a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday.

North Korea's dictator and President Donald Trump met three times during the American's first term—Kim said he had "fond memories" of those moments—but these talks failed to curb Pyongyang's nuclear program. In 2019, the negotiations collapsed, and since then the North Korean regime has established even stronger ties with Russia and China.

But Kim signaled that the door to dialogue was open, saying in his speech that "there is no reason for us not to sit at the table with the United States," the state-run KCNA news agency reported on Monday. Significant caveats remain in place, he added, including the demand that Washington abandon "the absurd obsession with denuclearizing us and accept reality, wishing for genuine peaceful coexistence."

South Korea wave

Meanwhile, South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, who has been trying to reduce tensions with his northern neighbor, declared that he would accept a deal between Trump and Kim that would only halt Pyongyang's development of new atomic weapons, without destroying its entire existing arsenal. With the requirement, of course, that Seoul also be allowed to keep its bombs.

Freezing the North Korean program as a "temporary emergency measure" would be "a viable and realistic alternative" to complete denuclearization, Lee, elected in June after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, said in an interview with the British broadcaster BBC. According to him, North Korea produces 15 to 20 new nuclear weapons per year.

"As long as we don't give up on the long-term goal of denuclearization, I believe there are clear benefits to having North Korea halt its nuclear and missile development," Lee said. "The question is: will we persist in fruitless attempts toward the ultimate goal (of denuclearization) , or will we set more realistic goals and achieve some of them?"

In a previous interview with Reuters, Lee admitted that United Nations Security Council sanctions have failed to stop North Korea from expanding and improving its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

“The reality is that the previous approach of sanctions and pressure did not solve the problem; on the contrary, it made it worse,” the South Korean leader said.

He has been trying to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula after a drastic deterioration in ties between the neighbors under the administration of Yoon, a conservative who took a hard line against the Kim regime. Instead, he advocated for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue and a more "realistic" and gradual approach toward denuclearization.

Firm position

Despite the conciliatory tone, Kim reiterated that he had no intention of giving up his nuclear weapons – a move that, according to him, could fatally weaken his regime.

In his address to the Supreme People's Assembly, he described the nuclear program as a "matter of survival" amid threats from the Americans and South Koreans, who have been stepping up cooperation and regularly holding joint military exercises.

"The world already knows very well what the United States does after it forces a country to give up its nuclear weapons and disarm. We will never give up our nuclear weapons," Kim declared.