North Korea’s main state propaganda agency issued a commentary on Tuesday responding to former President Donald Trump’s recollection of his functional relationship with communist dictator Kim Jong Un, acknowledging that Kim has “personal feelings” for Trump but rejecting claims that North Korea would improve ties with Washington if Trump returned to the White House.
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Admitted “I was raising long-held hopes for the future of U.S.-North Korea relations,” Trump said in a speech at the Republican National Convention in July.
Still, the report concluded, “We do not care what administration comes to power in the United States, as the political landscape will remain turbulent, with two major parties in conflict.”
During his administration, Trump made addressing the growing threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea a priority, which conducted its final nuclear test early in Trump’s first term in office. Trump eventually became the first president to walk on North Korean soil and met with Kim Jong Un three times. In a sign of Kim’s continued fondness for Trump, the ruthless communist dictator issued a rare statement of sympathy for Trump shortly after the July 13 assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In a lengthy speech in which he formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination, Trump took time to talk about his North Korea policy, particularly his relationship with Kim Jong Un. He reflected that he’s “got along very well” with the dictator, saying, “It’s good to get along with someone who has a lot of nuclear weapons.”
“I’m going to be friends with him when I get back. He’s looking forward to me coming back. I think he misses me,” Trump said. Said.
In a highly insulting commentary on the United States, which it has previously described as a “backward and politically rogue nation,” the Korean Central News Agency said the following about Trump’s remarks at the Republican National Convention:
As the US presidential election gets underway in earnest, Trump, who was officially endorsed as the Republican candidate, said in his acceptance speech, “I’ve gotten on well with them. It’s good to be able to get on well with people who have a lot of nuclear weapons and so on.”
“It is true that during his presidency, Trump sought to translate the special personal relationship between heads of state into relations between the countries,” the state media continued, “but he failed to bring about any substantive positive changes.”
“He who wears official attire must shed his private attire. A nation’s foreign policy and personal feelings must be strictly distinguished,” the editorial continued, suggesting that Kim Jong Un and Trump harbor “personal feelings” toward each other that are incompatible with their respective countries’ foreign policies.
In another part of the article, the Korean Central News Agency dismisses attempts at peace with the United States, saying that the United States holds free and fair elections and that foreign policy can change with every new president. North Korea is run by a totalitarian communist family cult that imprisons anyone suspected of not being a devout supporter of the regime, and their families, for decades at a time.
“Due to the serious strategic errors of successive administrations, the time has come for the United States to really worry about its own security,” the Korean Central News Agency concluded.
Trump’s relationship with Kim was initially combative, coming on the heels of a historic decline in dialogue under the administration of former President Barack Obama. North Korean state media branded Trump a “madman” and an “old man” who was endangering the country. In November 2017, Trump decided to fight back against the insult in kind.
“Why does Kim Jong Un insult me by calling me ‘old’ when I would never call him ‘short and fat?'” Trump wrote on social media site Twitter. “Well, I’m trying really hard to be his friend and maybe one day I will!”
Why does Kim Jong Un insult me by calling me “old”? I would never call him “short and fat”. Well, I am trying really hard to be his friend. Maybe one day I will!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
The Trump administration also led the implementation of an unprecedentedly tough sanctions regime against North Korea in December of that year, supported by North Korea’s main allies, China and Russia.
The change in North Korea’s attitude did not come immediately. In February 2018, the state-run newspaper Labor Newspaper Kim Jong Un accused Trump of “smelling bad” and ordered him “urgently sent to a psychiatric hospital.” Trump hosted a prominent North Korean defector as a guest at his 2018 State of the Union address. But Pyongyang eventually opened the lines of communication with the White House, and Kim Jong Un agreed to meet with Trump.
In June 2019, President Trump crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into North Korea, becoming the first US president in the country’s history.
“It’s a great honor to cross that line,” Trump said at the time. “We [Trump and Kim] We met and we just liked each other from day one.”
Kim Jong Un has similarly not negotiated with President Joe Biden, who remains officially the president of the United States at the time of writing. Not seen President Trump refrained from speaking publicly for five days. Under Trump, North Korea’s state media was similarly scornful of Biden, at one point calling him a “mad dog” and warning Americans that he should be “beaten to death with a stick.” Since taking office, the Korean Central News Agency has mocked Biden’s “senility” (a description it also used against the “aged” Trump before his meeting with Kim) and ignored the State Department’s attempts to communicate. Biden himself has not prioritized Korea policy for nearly four years in office, leaving South Korea to build ties with other like-minded countries and pressure NATO to plan for a North Korean attack.
