The North Korean government refuses to return to inter-leader diplomacy regardless of who wins the US elections. A North Korean United Nations diplomat stated that the Kim Jong-Un regime will never negotiate on the “national prestige”.

North Korea refuses to return to inter-leader diplomacy after the US elections in November, regardless of who comes into power. Song Kim, Pyongyang’s representative at the United Nations, stated in his speech at the UN General Assembly held in New York on Monday that the Kim Jong-Un regime will never bargain over the “national prestige”.

WILL NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS RESUME? Despite increasing security threats on the Korean Peninsula, the North Korean diplomat reiterated the country’s commitment to its nuclear weapons program. These statements further reduced the chances of resuming nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang that were suspended during the Trump administration.

“WE WILL ENGAGE WITH THE STATE STRUCTURE” A high-ranking North Korean diplomat who recently sought asylum in South Korea had claimed that if Donald Trump was re-elected, Pyongyang could resume nuclear talks with the US and work on a new negotiation strategy. Ambassador Song, in his speech at the General Assembly, stated, “Whoever comes into power in the US, we will only engage with the state structure called the US, not with the ordinary administration.”

TRUMP HAD PRAISED RELATIONS Republican presidential candidate Trump had previously praised his relationship with Kim as a very important success of his presidency. He had also claimed at a rally that Kim wanted to see him re-elected. In 2019, Trump symbolically crossed into North Korean territory, becoming the first sitting US President to set foot in the country.