N. Korea denies Trump's boasts on bond with Kim

Seoul says Pyongyang intends to call for shifts in US policy through state media statement

Then-US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, meet for a social dinner on Feb. 27, 2019, at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi, for their second summit meeting. (White House)

North Korea on Tuesday dismissed former US President Donald Trump's repeated boasts about his close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a "lingering desire," stating that their personal bond did not bring about "any substantial positive change."

The statement, delivered through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, which is tailored more to external audiences than domestic ones, marked Pyongyang's first official reaction to Trump's campaign trail remarks.

North Korea noted that Trump, who has been officially confirmed as the Republican presidential candidate, made references to North Korea "amid the full-dress presidential election race in the US" in a KCNA commentary published without disclosing an author.

The commentary specifically mentioned Trump's remarks during his Republican National Convention acceptance speech on Thursday, where he said, "I got along very well, North Korea, Kim Jong-un. I got along very well with him," and "It’s nice to get along with someone who has a lot of nuclear weapons or otherwise."

The KCNA commentary said Trump is "buoying a lingering desire for the prospects of the DPRK-US relations. Even if any administration takes office in the US, the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this."

The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is North Korea's official name.

North Korea also pointed out that the bond between Kim and Trump did not serve as a catalyst in settling long-held issues between the two countries.

"It is true that Trump, when he was president, tried to reflect the special personal relations between the heads of states in the relations between states, but he did not bring about any substantial positive change," the commentary read.

"The foreign policy of a state and personal feelings must be strictly distinguished," it added.

Pyongyang reiterated its stance that the ball is in the US court, urging the US to abandon what it labeled as a "hostile policy" toward North Korea in the commentary. Pyongyang considers the US extended deterrence commitment to South Korea in response to mounting threats from North Korea, such as the deployment of US strategic assets to the peninsula, as part of the hostile policy.

The commentary called for the US to "make a proper choice in the matter of how to deal with the DPRK in the future."

"Whether the second hand of the DPRK-US confrontation stops or not entirely depends on the US act," the commentary read, echoing its title.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump reacts after speaking at a campaign rally on Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP)

North Korea's statement came at a time when Trump continued to boast that his friendship with the North Korean leader, who possesses numerous nuclear weapons, had done no harm and actually made the world safer.

"North Korea has a lot of nuclear weapons. I got along with them great. You were never in danger with me as your president," Trump said during his campaign rally in Michigan on Saturday.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday assessed that the KCNA commentary aimed to call for a shift in US policy on North Korea.

"Looking at the content, while acknowledging the personal relationship between Trump and Kim Jong-un, the commentary emphasized that the future relationship between the US and North Korea entirely depends on US actions," a senior Unification Ministry official shared on condition of anonymity.

"It seems North Korea intended to suggest that the US should change its policy stance towards North Korea."

The official also noted that North Korea responded to the presidential candidate in the form of a KCNA commentary, rather than through any official or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is a higher authority for such responses.

The Unification Ministry, therefore, viewed the KCNA commentary as "suggesting a cautious response, at least formally."

Trump is the only US president to have held a summit with a North Korean leader. Trump held three in-person meetings with Kim during his presidency, including the first summit in Singapore in 2018 and a second meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam in February 2019, which ended abruptly when Trump walked away.

In June 2019, the two leaders held a brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone, with Trump becoming the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea.

However, since North Korea unilaterally broke off working-level nuclear talks with the US in Sweden in October 2019, discussions between the two countries have been entirely halted despite the Biden administration's repeated overtures for talks without preconditions.

By Ji Da-gyum(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)