A top North Korean diplomat said on Friday that he is hoping United States President Donald Trump will pursue a “wise option and bold decision,” in his approach to Pyongyang. Kim Kye Gwan, who played a major role in the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks that took place in Beijing between 2003-2008, expressed doubt that a new US-North Korea summit would lead to a breakthrough because of Washington’s insistence that it will not lift sanctions until North Korea fully dismantles its nuclear program.
Kim also criticized the US government of failing to adhere by a joint statement issued after North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and President Trump met in Singapore last year. However, Kim said he still has hopes for a better outcome because he “came to know that President Trump is different from his predecessors in political sense and decision while watching his approach to” North Korea.
After US National Security Advisor John Bolton was dismissed last week, North Korea already stated that it was open to Washington adopting a “new method” for dealing with Pyongyang. Kim Jung-un met with Trump in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea earlier this year. During that meeting, both leaders agreed to a new round of talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, but the prospects that such talks would actually materialize seemed slim in the past few months, with North Korea repeatedly slamming US sanctions and carrying out a variety of missile tests.
Read more: N. Korea urges Trump to make bold move to revive diplomacy
