US NSC Advisor: "Trump Expressed Hope for Dialogue to Kim Jong-un"

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Baek Jong-min] There has been a statement that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his hope to resume talks with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.

The White House National Security Council (NSC) confirmed via a tweet that Robert O'Brien, White House National Security Advisor, held bilateral and trilateral meetings on the 8th with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea, and released a photo of the three together. The NSC stated in the tweet that the discussions covered developments related to Iran and North Korea, as well as the importance of trilateral security cooperation.
From left: Shigeru Kitamura, Director of Japan's National Security Secretariat; Robert O'Brien, White House National Security Advisor; Jeong Eui-yong, Director of South Korea's National Security Office. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th (local time), the U.S. online media Axios reported that on the 10th, Robert O'Brien, U.S. National Security Council (NSC) advisor at the White House, said in an interview, "The U.S. contacted the North to convey its hope to resume the North Korea-U.S. working-level talks held last October in Stockholm, Sweden."

Advisor O'Brien described the channels for dialogue with the North as various channels. He added, "We need to have talks to resume North Korea-U.S. negotiations and achieve the denuclearization promised by Chairman Kim."

He gave a positive assessment of the prospects for future North Korea-U.S. talks. Advisor O'Brien highly evaluated the fact that "North Korea did not carry out the 'Christmas gift' provocation it had warned about at the end of last year."

His remarks are interpreted as publicly revealing that President Trump has a 'top-down' style willingness to engage in talks using his personal relationship with Chairman Kim.

President Trump's intentions may have already been conveyed to North Korea. This possibility is included in the letter congratulating Chairman Kim on his birthday, mentioned by Kim Kye-gwan, advisor to North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on the 11th. Although Advisor Kim disclosed that he received a personal letter from President Trump, he did not reveal its contents.

Advisor Kim further said, “It is true that the personal relationship between our Supreme Leader and President Trump is not bad,” while emphasizing, “It would be a foolish idea to have expectations based on this personal relationship that we might return to talks with the U.S. or to try to create such an atmosphere.”

Advisor O'Brien also assessed, "It is fortunate that North Korea did not send a Christmas gift, but it is difficult to interpret this as meaning there will be no new North Korean experiments in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.