North Korea uninterested in 'useless' Trump meetings after president's tweet

'We will no longer give the US president something to boast about for nothing in return'

Clark Mindock
New York
Monday 18 November 2019 22:22 GMT
Comments
North Korean state TV releases video of Kim Jong-un meeting with Donald Trump and Ivanka

The leader of North Korea is not interested in another meeting with Donald Trump, even though the American recently signalled they would be coming together soon.

That’s according to a statement from North Korean Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan, who told the state news agency that Mr Trump’s Sunday night tweet saying “See you soon!” was not expressing a mutual desire.

“I interpreted President Trump’s tweet on the 17th to signify a new DPRK-US summit”, Mr Kim told KCNA before adding: “we are no longer interested in these meetings that are useless to us.”

Mr Kim continued to suggest that Mr Trump would like to portray progress on issues in the Korean Peninsula, but that his true intentions were to delay.

“We will no longer give the US president something to boast about for nothing in return, and we must receive from the US what is corresponding to the results that president Trump is already boasting as his achievements,” he said.

Mr Trump, on Sunday, suggested that Kim Jong Un should act quickly on a deal, and hinted at another summit in the near future.

“You should act quickly, get the deal done,” Mr Trump tweeted. He added: “See you soon!”

The US president’s remarks come after Mr Kim praised his “special” relationship with Mr Trump in October, and maintained that the two leaders “trust in each other” even as working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang in Sweden collapsed earlier in the year.

Mr Trump and Mr Kim met in June in the demilitarised zone, marking an unprecedented step for a US president and North Korean leader.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in