[On the other hand, Kim reminded his audience that he and Trump had agreed to proceed toward the “complete denuclearization” of the peninsula, and said that remained the “unchangeable stance” of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as his own “firm will.”]
By
Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim
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People
watch a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering a
New
Year's Day
speech at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul. (Ahn Young-Joon/AP)
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TOKYO
— North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un said he is ready to meet President Trump at any time to discuss the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but warned he might have to seek “new
ways” if the United States maintains sanctions and demands unilateral
concessions.
In a closely watched, nationally televised
annual New Year’s Day speech, Kim said for the first time that his country had
already stopped producing nuclear weapons, adding that progress on
denuclearization could accelerate if the United States also makes concessions.
But he balanced a willingness to talk with a
reminder that North Korea has its own demands if denuclearization is going to
happen. He also warned that the United States should not misjudge North Korea’s
“patience.”
Kim called his June summit meeting with Trump
“instructive” and said they had shared “constructive opinions” on mutual
concerns and “speedy solutions to the tangled issues” they faced.
“I am ready to sit face-to-face with the U.S.
president again any time in the future, and will strive to produce an outcome
welcomed by the international community,” he said.
“However, if the U.S. does not keep the
promises it made in front of the world, misjudge the patience of our people,
force a unilateral demand on us, and firmly continue with sanctions and
pressures on our republic, we might be compelled to explore new ways to protect
our autonomy and interests and establish peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula.”
On the other hand, Kim reminded his audience
that he and Trump had agreed to proceed toward the “complete denuclearization”
of the peninsula, and said that remained the “unchangeable stance” of the
ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as his own “firm will.”
“We have announced that we will not produce,
test nor proliferate any more nuclear weapons, and have taken practical
measures accordingly,” he said. “If the United States responds to our
preemptive and autonomous efforts with credible measures and corresponding
actions, the relationship between the two countries will accelerate for the
better.”
Robert Carlin, a visiting scholar at Stanford
University, said the last time North Korea made such a commitment not to make
nuclear weapons was a 1992 joint declaration with South Korea.
“What we have is the DPRK leader, on the
record, telling us the North Koreans will not, have not produced any more
nuclear weapons,” he said. “I wouldn’t dismiss it. I don’t know what it means
exactly, but Kim said it, and we should take it seriously and probe it.”
Carlin, who was involved in North Korea talks
from 1992 to 2000 and is a nonresident fellow at the Stimson Center, also noted
that Kim’s warning to the United States used relatively soft words such as
“might” and “explore” — while he attached his own “firm will” to the commitment
to denuclearize.
“Now what Kim has done is laid out in a very
positive way for his domestic audience how forward leaning he is in terms of
engaging with the U.S. and in fact he makes it very personal,” he said. “He did
that for a reason, because, I believe, he thinks this is going to move ahead.”
Whether North Korea is not producing nuclear
weapons remains very doubtful, but at least Kim is pledging to act with
restraint for now, said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in
Seoul. But Lankov pointed out that Kim had again talked of the denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula, not the denuclearization of North Korea, which are
different things.
“That’s not a new formula. It’s more than 25
years old,” he said, “and it essentially implies the withdrawal of U.S. forces
from Korea, and maybe from adjacent areas as well.”
Lankov argues that Kim is offering a
reduction in his nuclear arsenal and detente in return for sanctions relief and
diplomatic gains, but not total nuclear disarmament.
That is a compromise that appeals to many
people, who argue it will reduce regional tensions considerably, but not to
many senior figures in Washington, who say it would set a dangerous precedent
by recognizing North Korea as a de facto nuclear weapons state.
Kim
delivered the speech in a more relaxed setting than in previous years, sitting
in a plush leather armchair in a book-lined study, with large paintings of his
father and grandfather alongside flags of North Korea and the ruling Workers
Party on the wall behind him.
Overall, it felt like a North Korean
imitation of the British aristocracy of the 19th century, mixed with a touch of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” of the 1930s and 1940s,
Lankov said — even if the canned mass applause at the end of the speech was
more typical of Pyongyang’s heavy propaganda touch.
Portraying a more approachable image than his
father, Kim was seen sauntering to the study along a corridor, his Western-style
jacket unbuttoned, followed by his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, who is emerging
as a key figure in his entourage.
The speech, primarily aimed at a domestic
audience, was mostly concentrated on the economy and stressed the need for
self-reliance, technological progress and scientific research while upholding
socialist values. He urged North Korea to improve its infrastructure, address
power shortages by raising electricity production, and also boost the munitions
industry, to bring the country’s defense capabilities “up to the level of
developed countries.”
He spoke warmly of his three meetings with
South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2018 and the rapprochement between the
two nations but said that progress should be consolidated by ending joint
military exercises with the United States. He also called for a halt to the
deployment of “strategic assets” on the Korean Peninsula, an apparent reference
to U.S. bombers and submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Kim said he wanted to restart a joint
economic zone in Kaesong and a joint tourism project at Mount Kumgang in the
North “without preconditions.” However, neither step will be possible unless
sanctions are lifted.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House praised
the speech, saying Kim’s commitment to closer inter-Korean ties would “make a
positive contribution to the prospect of Korean Peninsula issues being solved
smoothly in the New Year.”
Kim also sent a letter to Moon on Sunday,
expressing his willingness to meet the South Korean leader “often” in the
coming year to move their peace process and denuclearization talks forward,
according to the Blue House. He also sent a “conciliatory message” to Trump,
according to Bloomberg News.
The 2018 New Year’s Day address came at a
time of much greater tension, but Kim used that opportunity to balance tough
talk with a rare olive branch to South Korea.
In that speech, Kim said he had a “nuclear
button” on his desk with weapons capable of reaching the United States, but he
also opened a path to dialogue with Seoul and expressed willingness to send a
delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
In this year’s address, Kim reminded viewers
that athletes from the two Koreas had marched together under a joint Korean
flag at the Opening Ceremonies of those Games.
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