The most powerful woman in North Korea is trying to open the door for bilateral diplomacy with President Donald Trump’s administration, but considers unity with the southern half of the peninsula a lost cause.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of supreme leader Kim Jong Un and de facto spokeswoman of the Kim dynasty, reentered the international spotlight this week with a series of scathing essays expounding upon the government’s current foreign policy priorities.
A memo published in the state-operated Korea Central News Agency claimed the U.S. government previously reached out to the hermit nation, stating the White House is “still open to dialogue with the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] leader for achieving the complete denuclearization of the DPIn her communique, RK.”
Kim Yo Jong ,ique: “We do not want to give any meaning to the US side’s unilateral assessment of the past DPRK-US dialogue.
“The recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state and the hard fact that its capabilities and geopolitical environment have radically changed should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking everything in the future.”
Buried in the memo was an unusually positive remark that made foreign analysts do a double-take.
“I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present U.S. president is not bad,” Kim Yo Jong wrote. “However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the United States are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party.”
Coming from a nation that declared its “toughest anti-U.S. counteraction” last December, the assertion that relations between Kim Jong Un and Trump are “not bad” betrays a massive de-escalation in rhetoric from the regime.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the current relationship between the U.S. and North Korea during a press briefing on Wednesday, saying the matter was in the purview of the White House.
“We do know, as we see now — as we saw in the first term — President Trump’s willingness to talk with everyone in order to achieve the peace and prosperity and some semblance of normal life for people around the world,” she said.
Bruce’s comment on Trump’s first term was in reference to his high-profile diplomatic meetings with Kim Jong Un, in which he committed to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and became the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea.
This progress eroded over the following years as relations between the leaders soured and Trump lost his 2020 reelection bid to former President Joe Biden.
Since then, Trump has made several references to his breakthroughs with Kim Jong Un, at various points saying they exchanged “love letters.”
The Stimson Center’s 38 North, a North Korean research program, released a report on Kim Yo Jong’s memo claiming that the regime is trying to “moderate its anti-U.S. rhetoric, suggesting it is leaving some maneuvering space for diplomacy with the Trump administration for when the time is right.”
“However, creating diplomatic space is not the same as being receptive to US demands,” the report clarified.
Indeed, the memo specifically warned the U.S. against approaching North Korea in the same manner as Trump’s first term: “It is worth taking into account the fact that the year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019.”
If Kim Yo Jong had hoped the White House would seize the opportunity and play nice about her nation’s nuclear program while moving on to other concerns, she was almost certainly disappointed.
Asked for clarification on the state of U.S. diplomatic efforts with the DPRK following the memo, the White House reiterated its openness to engaging with the rogue state if the goal is winding down the threat of nuclear weapons.
“President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula and achieved the first ever leader-level agreement on denuclearization,” a White House spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “The President retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearized North Korea.”
While the U.S. seems to consider North Korea a low priority at the moment, South Korea has been bending over backward to win some trust from Pyongyang — and it’s not working.
Kim Yo Jong penned a separate letter in KCNA this week, berating her southern counterpart for trying to foster positivity across the demilitarized zone by “suspension of loudspeaker broadcasting against the DPRK, a halt to leaflet scattering and the allowance of individual [Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official name] people for tour of the DPRK.”
“If the ROK, which had stoked the atmosphere of extreme confrontation in the past after unilaterally declaring the DPRK as its principal enemy, expected that it could reverse all the results it had made with a few sentimental words, nothing is more serious miscalculation than it,” Kim Yo Jong wrote.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has made improving ties on the peninsula a key goal of his government since winning the June election to replace his ousted predecessor.
To this end, he has rolled back anti-DPRK propaganda, reinvigorated the nation’s Unification Ministry, and floated the idea of inviting regime officials to international summits.
North Korea, however, says South Korean leadership is “spinning a daydream” if it thinks the regime is interested in meeting.
“We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither the reason to meet nor the issue to be discussed with the ROK,” Kim Yo Jong wrote.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young hopes the U.S. can help South Korea to the negotiating table with the Kim regime.
During a Friday meeting with U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Joseph Yun, Chung said South Korea has “high hopes for President Trump’s leadership” on the issue.
“I want to emphasize the importance of his leadership and the significance [of his term] in turning the unstable peace on the Korean Peninsula into a solid one,” Chung said. “The projects he initiated with North Korea are not yet complete. Being aware of this, I am giving a lot of thought to what I would do with that side.”
North Korea has seen a windfall of both cash and international relevance after ascending as Russia’s primary ally amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Pyongyang has struck deals with the Kremlin to furnish soldiers, artillery, and military drones to the front lines.
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In exchange, Russia has signed a series of increasingly comprehensive treaties with the isolationist kingdom that will provide assistance on nuclear and technological modernization.
This relationship has spurred North Korea to work toward providing accommodations and programs for foreign nationals interested in building on the partnership, such as a luxury resort and an international friendship camp.