Kim Yo Jong, the de facto spokesperson for Kim Jong Un and Deputy Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, has resumed her diplomatic offensive against South Korea and the U.S. after a hiatus since April. On Monday she targeted South Korea, and on Tuesday she addressed the U.S. through her remarks.
Kim argued that the current situation is drastically different from the period of active inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea summits between 2018 and 2019. She set forth more demanding preconditions for dialogue with both South Korea and the U.S., effectively insisting on a fundamental reorientation of their approach toward engaging with North Korea.
On Tuesday, Kim issued a statement via the Korean Central News Agency entitled, The Relationship Between North and South Korea Has Completely Moved Beyond the Notion of Kinship. Since North Korea declared itself a hostile state in 2023, it has refrained from using the term inter-Korean relations, opting instead for North-South relationship.
Throughout her address, Kim underscored the distinct identities of South and North Korea. She criticized the Lee Jae Myung administration’s North Korea policy, asserting that the normalization of the Ministry of Unification—which, in her view, should be dismantled—exposes South Korean politicians’ obsession with the delusion of absorption-based unification.
North Korea’s detailed response to the new South Korean government’s policy, after a long period of ignoring Seoul, can be seen as a sign of renewed interest. However, Kim made it clear that dialogue between the two Koreas is impossible as long as South Korea continues to base its relationship on outdated notions of shared ethnicity and unification. She demanded that North Korea be recognized as an independent state.
On Tuesday, Kim released another statement through the Korean Central News Agency, entitled, Contact Between North Korea and the U.S. Is Merely America’s Hope. She emphasized that acknowledging North Korea’s status as a nuclear power would be a realistic response on the part of the U.S.
While recognizing the positive personal rapport between Kim Jong Un and former President Donald Trump, Kim Yo Jong drew a clear boundary, stating that this is not 2018 or 2019 anymore. Further adding that it will not lend any significance to the U.S. side’s unilateral interpretation of past U.S.-North Korea dialogues. This underscores a firm stance that diplomatic issues cannot be resolved solely on the basis of personal relationships between leaders.
North Korea previously engaged in two summits and one informal meeting with the U.S. during Trump’s presidency. However, following the collapse of the 2019 Hanoi summit, it has repeatedly expressed skepticism towards the U.S. While it once sought sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization, it now asserts its status as a nuclear power, implying that the U.S. must adjust its approach accordingly.
The core message in North Korea’s recent statements appears to be a determination to break away from past approaches.
Since 2023, North Korea has pursued significant shifts in its foreign policy. At the end of that year, Kim Jong Un declared North and South Korea as hostile states and announced the removal of concepts based on shared ethnicity and unification from its policy. This marked a transition toward treating the two as entirely separate nations, referred to as Korea and Joseon.
In June of the following year, North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with Russia, establishing close military and economic ties. With Russian support, North Korea expanded its nuclear weapons development program following the failure of the Hanoi summit. Unlike China’s cautious stance, Russia’s readiness to violate sanctions has provided North Korea with substantial economic backing.
Some analysts suggest that North Korea, with Russian support, has achieved what it sought from negotiations with the U.S. six to seven years ago. This context may have led North Korea to conclude that the time is ripe to reshape its relations with South Korea and the U.S. and to leverage its most formidable bargaining chips.
While the simultaneous statements toward South Korea and the U.S. could indicate North Korea’s return to nuclear diplomacy, experts believe that its demands are too steep to be accepted in the immediate future, making near-term dialogue unlikely.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, stated that North Korea is signaling its willingness to engage in dialogue if South Korea and the U.S. accept the changed reality. He added that without a willingness to fundamentally alter the negotiation framework with North Korea, meaningful dialogue is likely to remain elusive.