Donald Trump, the President of the United States, did not mention North Korea at all during his first address to the United Nations General Assembly after being re-elected, and introduced South Korea as a trade partner.
In his speech at the UN General Assembly on the 23rd local time, President Trump targeted Iran, stating, “We cannot allow the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism to possess the planet’s most dangerous weapons,” but did not address the threat of North Korea’s nuclear program.
The focus on “America First” in the speech could be seen as a main point, but some interpret it as maintaining a cautious stance amid the potential resumption of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea.
Trump, while detailing the successes of his economic policies, mentioned South Korea along with the UK and Japan as examples of successful trade negotiations, highlighting it as a success in his tariff policies despite ongoing follow-up negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea facing challenges.
During his first term from 2017 to 2020, President Trump consistently mentioned North Korea in three out of four annual UN General Assembly speeches.
In his 2017 debut at the UN, he referred to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as “Rocket Man” and stated that if the U.S. and its allies were forced to defend themselves, there would be no choice but to totally destroy North Korea, leading to heightened tensions between the two countries.
One year later, in the 2018 UN General Assembly speech, President Trump delivered a markedly different message regarding North Korea.
This change reflected significantly altered U.S.-North Korea relations, particularly after the summit held in Singapore in June 2018.
In that year’s speech, President Trump stated, “We are speaking to North Korea to replace the specter of conflict with a daring and new pursuit of peace, supported by many countries,” expressing his commitment to peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
Despite the complications of the “Hanoi No Deal” in February 2019, President Trump reminded that discussions with North Korea continued through 2019, mentioning that he told Kim Jong-un that North Korea is full of tremendous potential and emphasized, “To realize this possibility, North Korea must denuclearize.”
However, in his 2020 address held via video due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump did not mention North Korea for the first time, which was analyzed in connection with the stalemate in U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations.
President Trump has expressed a desire to meet Kim Jong-un directly after his re-election.
During a summit with President Yoon held at the White House on the 25th of last month, he stated, “I had a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, and it still remains,” indicating that he wishes to meet Kim within this year.
Kim Jong-un subsequently stated at the Supreme People’s Assembly on the 21st that North Korea would consider dialogue with the U.S. if it abandons its aim of denuclearization, and remarked that he has good personal memories of the current U.S. president, Trump.
Despite the noticeable differences in stance regarding denuclearization between the two sides, the confirmation of each side’s willingness to resume dialogue raises the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea summit.
This could potentially occur at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju at the end of October or during President Trump’s visit to China early next year.