President Trump said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has much to lose if he violated the terms of the Denuclearization Agreement amid reports that Pyongyang has been conducting tests of “great significance.”
“Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way,” Trump tweeted on Sunday morning. “He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore.”
The president also dismissed the idea that Kim was interested in interfering with Trump’s chances of being reelected in 2020. “He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere with the U.S. Presidential Election in November.”
Trump reiterated unified support of the agreement following a statement from the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Song, that denuclearization was off the table in terms of negotiations with the United States. “North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised. NATO, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!”
….with the U.S. Presidential Election in November. North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised. NATO, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2019
“We do not need to have lengthy talks with the US now and the denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiation table,” Song said in a statement. Song also referred to the U.S. pursuit of a “sustained” dialogue with North Korea as nothing more than an attempt to benefit a “domestic political agenda.”
Ri Thae Song, a North Korean vice foreign minister who handles U.S. affairs, warned that Trump was running out of time to meet the year-end deadline for negotiations. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get,” Ri said.
