Kim Jong Un offers Trump coexistence or confrontation

speech last September. Then, he told his parliament that Washington’s aim for denuclearization was a “delusional obsession.”The two leaders haven’t met since 2019, and the North Korean leader ignored an offer to reconnect when Trump visited South Korea last fall. The Kim regime hasn’t held formal nuclear talks with the U.S.

in more than six years.To Washington, the options to contend with Pyongyang’s nuclear-capable missiles—which have the range to strike anywhere on the U.S. mainland—extend beyond the two choices Kim laid out. But North Korea’s interest in exchanging its nuclear weapons for a relaxing of economic sanctions has significantly dimmed in recent years, given its expanding and prosperous relations with neighboring Russia and China.Kim seeks U.S.

recognition as a nuclear state because doing so would allow North Korea to justify keeping its weapons rather than being seen as a rogue state for possessing them. In his Wednesday speech, Kim said if his nation’s nuclear program were respected he saw “no reason” why U.S. relations would be strained, referring to a “peaceful coexistence.” Absent that, he added, would invite “eternal confrontation.”“We are prepared for everything,” Kim said, “and that choice is not made by us.”Kim’s calculated bet, shifting the onus onto the Trump administration, seeks to make Washington’s longstanding goal of denuclearization a relic of the past.Pyongyang passed legislation outlining its nuclear-state status in 2022.

Trump has repeatedly extolled his relationship with Kim. The 42-year-old dictator has also said he harbors “good memories” of Trump, while making clear the personal relationship won’t be enough to revive dialogue.Kim, in his Wednesday speech, criticized the U.S. for its