Despite Trump's Repeated overtures, North Korea Draws the Line

[Anchor]

North Korea has stated its position that it will respond to the United States' hostile policy toward Pyongyang to the end and with a hardline stance. This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed a willingness to dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, appearing to draw a line instead.

Reporter Kim Ayeong looks into North Korea's inner thoughts.

[Reporter]

North Korea released a statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson today (August 31), claiming that "the U.S. confrontational stance has been clearly expressed recently."

It cited three grounds for its claim: that a U.S. State Department spokesperson stated on the 26th that "the United States remains committed to the denuclearization of North Korea," that the issue of North Korea's "human rights abuses" was also raised that same day, and that the South Korea-U.S.-Japan joint exercise "Freedom Edge" is scheduled to take place as planned next month.

This means the U.S. hostile policy toward North Korea has not changed.

At the same time, it issued a stern warning that there is not the slightest change in its U.S. policy to respond with the utmost hardline stance to the end.

North Korea's condition for improving North Korea-U.S. relations is the withdrawal of the hostile policy toward Pyongyang.

This statement specifically pointed out elements of the hostile policy one by one, which can also be interpreted as a complaint that although U.S. President Trump has been sending them overtures, there has not been significant change at the U.S. administration level.

[Yang Moo-jin / Professor Emeritus, University of North Korean Studies: Positions have not yet been fully aligned between President Trump and the officials. Scrapting it is necessary. (I think) this contains an indirect message asking him (President Trump) to step forward directly.]

The statement also included a catching remark that "illusions about the past cannot grasp reality or restrain the future," which is analyzed as an argument that rather than denuclearization, recognizing their already completed nuclear capabilities is the only starting point for North Korea-U.S. dialogue.

(Video Editing: Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.